diff --git a/llarp/util/geoip.cpp b/llarp/util/geoip.cpp
index e75703d..ec151ae 100644
--- a/llarp/util/geoip.cpp
+++ b/llarp/util/geoip.cpp
@@ -40,12 +40,19 @@ namespace llarp::util
 
     Pimpl()
     {
+      // GeoIP_new returns nullptr when the database file cannot be opened;
+      // every later call must treat that as "no geoip available" rather than
+      // handing the null handle to libGeoIP (which crashes on it).
       geoip_ptr = ::GeoIP_new(GEOIP_STANDARD);
+      if (geoip_ptr == nullptr)
+        log::warning(
+            logcat, "GeoIP database could not be opened; geoip based peer filtering is disabled");
     }
 
     ~Pimpl()
     {
-      ::GeoIP_delete(geoip_ptr);
+      if (geoip_ptr)
+        ::GeoIP_delete(geoip_ptr);
     }
 
     static constexpr auto CacheEntryDuration = 30min;
@@ -54,6 +61,8 @@ namespace llarp::util
     std::optional<std::string>
     get_country_code(const SockAddr& addr, Cache_t& cache) const
     {
+      if (geoip_ptr == nullptr)
+        return std::nullopt;  // no database; warned at startup
       std::string country_code{};
       if (auto itr = cache.find(addr); itr != cache.end())
         country_code = itr->second.country_code;