diff --git a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
index 2a398bc0d..fe2f4c991 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
@@ -1249,6 +1249,7 @@ int RsServer::StartupRetroShare()
 	mPluginsManager->loadPlugins(programatically_inserted_plugins) ;
 
 #ifdef RS_JSONAPI
+	if(jsonApiServer) // JsonApiServer may be disabled at runtime
 	{
 		mConfigMgr->addConfiguration("jsonApi.cfg", jsonApiServer);
 		RsFileHash dummyHash;