diff --git a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
index d68e5d8e15..76ef00cbd2 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ void GameState::Reset()
 
 	for( p=0; p<NUM_PLAYERS; p++ )
 	{
-		if( PREFSMAN->m_bShowDancingCharacters )
+		if( PREFSMAN->m_bShowDancingCharacters && m_pCharacters.size() )
 			m_pCurCharacters[p] = m_pCharacters[rand()%m_pCharacters.size()];
 		else
 			m_pCurCharacters[p] = NULL;