diff --git a/cJSON.c b/cJSON.c
index e8437b334bdbe064bd702ffbc861fefa3cbc6e2f..63fb043470706a202287b12c26e95147084dda30 100644
--- a/cJSON.c
+++ b/cJSON.c
@@ -2448,7 +2448,7 @@ CJSON_PUBLIC(cJSON*) cJSON_AddArrayToObject(cJSON * const object, const char * c
 
 CJSON_PUBLIC(cJSON *) cJSON_DetachItemViaPointer(cJSON *parent, cJSON * const item)
 {
-    if ((parent == NULL) || (item == NULL))
+    if ((parent == NULL) || (item == NULL) || (item != parent->child && item->prev == NULL))
     {
         return NULL;
     }