libRTI/ieee1516-2010/RTIvariableLengthData.cpp |   13 ++++++++++---
 1 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/libRTI/ieee1516-2010/RTIvariableLengthData.cpp b/libRTI/ieee1516-2010/RTIvariableLengthData.cpp
index 4f55fcd..7bc95ed 100644
--- a/libRTI/ieee1516-2010/RTIvariableLengthData.cpp
+++ b/libRTI/ieee1516-2010/RTIvariableLengthData.cpp
@@ -25,12 +25,19 @@ namespace rti1516e
 	VariableLengthData::VariableLengthData(VariableLengthData const & rhs)
 		: _impl(0)
 	{
-		_impl = new VariableLengthDataImplementation(*(rhs._impl));
+		if (rhs._impl) //verification added to prevent NULL IMPL. This is possible when pushing in a map, for example
+		{
+			_impl = new VariableLengthDataImplementation(*(rhs._impl));
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			_impl = new VariableLengthDataImplementation;
+		}
 	}
 
 	VariableLengthData::~VariableLengthData()
 	{
-		delete _impl;
+		if(_impl) delete _impl; _impl = NULL;
 	}
 
 	VariableLengthData &
@@ -39,7 +46,7 @@ namespace rti1516e
 		// Beware of self assignment
 		if (this != &rhs)
 		{
-			delete _impl;
+			if(_impl) delete _impl; _impl = NULL;
 			_impl = new VariableLengthDataImplementation(*(rhs._impl));
 		}