diff --git a/hw/core/qdev-clock.c b/hw/core/qdev-clock.c
index 6e2967e433..861f78f94c 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev-clock.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev-clock.c
@@ -157,7 +157,14 @@ Clock *qdev_alias_clock(DeviceState *dev, const char *name,
                         DeviceState *alias_dev, const char *alias_name)
 {
     NamedClockList *ncl = qdev_get_clocklist(dev, name);
-    Clock *clk = ncl->clock;
+    Clock *clk;
+
+    if (!ncl) {
+        error_report("Can not find clock '%s' for device type '%s'",
+                     name, object_get_typename(OBJECT(dev)));
+        abort();
+    }
+    clk = ncl->clock;
 
     ncl = qdev_init_clocklist(alias_dev, alias_name, true, ncl->output, clk);