diff --git a/core/state/statedb.go b/core/state/statedb.go
index 973b70c226..cc5765341f 100644
--- a/core/state/statedb.go
+++ b/core/state/statedb.go
@@ -228,7 +228,11 @@ func (s *StateDB) StopPrefetcher() {
 	if s.noTrie {
 		return
 	}
-	s.prefetcher.close()
+	s.prefetcherLock.Lock()
+	if s.prefetcher != nil {
+		s.prefetcher.close()
+	}
+	s.prefetcherLock.Unlock()
 }
 
 // Mark that the block is processed by diff layer