diff --git a/example/jsonparse.cpp b/example/jsonparse.cpp
index ba26b8a..e28b6d0 100644
--- a/example/jsonparse.cpp
+++ b/example/jsonparse.cpp
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ void testJsonSuite()
     if (dir == NULL)
     {
         printf("Error: failed to open jsontest directory\n");
+        closedir(dir);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ void testJsonSuite()
             }
         }
     }
+
+    closedir(dir);
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/str.h b/include/str.h
index c4b4f09..dd3356a 100644
--- a/include/str.h
+++ b/include/str.h
@@ -534,8 +534,13 @@ class StrBld
     const char* c_str()
     {
         char* buf = (char*)mBuf.ptr();
-        // Lazy null termination
-        buf[mLen] = '\0';
+        if(buf)
+        {
+            // Lazy null termination
+            buf[mLen] = '\0';
+        }
+        // May return buffer without zero termination,
+        // but better than writing to null pointer.
         return buf;
     }
     std::string toString()
@@ -554,7 +559,17 @@ class StrBld
 
     inline int compare(const char* s)
     {
-        return strcmp(c_str(), s);
+        const char* cp = c_str();
+
+        if (cp)
+        {
+            return strcmp(cp, s);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // cp is null, fallback to direct comparison
+            return cp != s;
+        }
     }
     inline bool equals(const char* s)
     {