diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/udata.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/udata.cpp
index b9b737f177ed..b53ec191aa34 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/udata.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/udata.cpp
@@ -1291,7 +1291,7 @@ doOpenChoice(const char *path, const char *type, const char *name,
     dataPath = u_getDataDirectory();
 
     /****    Time zone individual files override  */
-    if (isICUData && isTimeZoneFile(name, type)) {
+    if (isICUData && type!=nullptr && isTimeZoneFile(name, type)) {
         const char *tzFilesDir = u_getTimeZoneFilesDirectory(pErrorCode);
         if (tzFilesDir[0] != 0) {
 #ifdef UDATA_DEBUG