diff --git a/geoip.c b/geoip.c
index 085f6e1..186545e 100644
--- a/geoip.c
+++ b/geoip.c
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ static VALUE generic_single_value_lookup_response(char *key, char *value)
 VALUE rb_city_record_to_hash(GeoIPRecord *record)
 {
   VALUE hash = rb_hash_new();
+  const char *region_name;
 
   if(record->country_code)
     rb_hash_sset(hash, "country_code", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(record->country_code));
@@ -126,7 +127,8 @@ VALUE rb_city_record_to_hash(GeoIPRecord *record)
     rb_hash_sset(hash, "country_name", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(record->country_name));
   if(record->region) {
     rb_hash_sset(hash, "region", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(record->region));
-    rb_hash_sset(hash, "region_name", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(GeoIP_region_name_by_code(record->country_code, record->region)));
+    if(region_name = GeoIP_region_name_by_code(record->country_code, record->region))
+      rb_hash_sset(hash, "region_name", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(region_name));
   }
   if(record->city)
     rb_hash_sset(hash, "city", encode_to_utf8_and_return_rb_str(record->city));