diff --git a/lib/SimpleSAML/SessionHandlerCookie.php b/lib/SimpleSAML/SessionHandlerCookie.php
index e2d1854906719dae81f136648af1ae86e29e8605..ef114976e048a23367cdcf19390b7b123b8a52d3 100644
--- a/lib/SimpleSAML/SessionHandlerCookie.php
+++ b/lib/SimpleSAML/SessionHandlerCookie.php
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ abstract class SessionHandlerCookie extends SessionHandler
             }
 
             // check if we have a valid session id
-            if (!self::isValidSessionID($this->session_id)) {
+            if (!is_null($this->session_id) && !self::isValidSessionID($this->session_id)) {
                 // invalid, disregard this session
                 return null;
             }