diff --git a/React/Base/RCTUtils.m b/React/Base/RCTUtils.m
index c996c5f13..2cdd3f6eb 100644
--- a/React/Base/RCTUtils.m
+++ b/React/Base/RCTUtils.m
@@ -753,11 +753,14 @@ UIImage *__nullable RCTImageFromLocalAssetURL(NSURL *imageURL)
 
   if (!image) {
     // Attempt to load from the file system
-    NSString *filePath = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:[imageURL fileSystemRepresentation]];
-    if (filePath.pathExtension.length == 0) {
-      filePath = [filePath stringByAppendingPathExtension:@"png"];
+    const char* fileSystemCString = [imageURL fileSystemRepresentation];
+    if (fileSystemCString != NULL) {
+      NSString *filePath = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:fileSystemCString];
+      if (filePath.pathExtension.length == 0) {
+        filePath = [filePath stringByAppendingPathExtension:@"png"];
+      }
+      image = [UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
     }
-    image = [UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
   }
 
   if (!image && !bundle) {