diff --git a/ls/ls.go b/ls/ls.go
index 478a9df..0beeeb1 100644
--- a/ls/ls.go
+++ b/ls/ls.go
@@ -1487,6 +1487,10 @@ func (ls *INOLanguageServer) extractDataFolderFromArduinoCLI(logger jsonrpc.Func
 	}
 
 	dataDirPath := paths.New(dataDir)
+	if dataDirPath == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	return dataDirPath.Canonical(), nil
 }