diff --git a/lib/libalpm/sync.c b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
index dd54ce6..b631f18 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/sync.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
@@ -570,13 +570,15 @@ int _alpm_sync_prepare(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db_local, alpm_list_t *dbs_sync
                                                }
                                                if(rmpkg) {
                                                        pmsyncpkg_t *rsync = _alpm_sync_find(trans->packages, rmpkg);
-                                                       void *vpkg;
-                                                       _alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing '%s' from target list\n",
-                                                                       rsync->pkg->name);
-                                                       trans->packages = alpm_list_remove(trans->packages, rsync,
-                                                                       syncpkg_cmp, &vpkg);
-                                                       _alpm_sync_free(vpkg);
-                                                       continue;
+                                                       if(rsync) {
+                                                               void *vpkg;
+                                                               _alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "removing '%s' from target list\n",
+                                                                               rsync->pkg->name);
+                                                               trans->packages = alpm_list_remove(trans->packages, rsync,
+                                                                               syncpkg_cmp, &vpkg);
+                                                               _alpm_sync_free(vpkg);
+                                                               continue;
+                                                       }
                                                }
                                        }
                                }