diff --git subversion/subversion/bindings/swig/perl/native/Core.pm subversion/subversion/bindings/swig/perl/native/Core.pm
index 7a1281e..9f3b040 100644
--- subversion/subversion/bindings/swig/perl/native/Core.pm
+++ subversion/subversion/bindings/swig/perl/native/Core.pm
@@ -412,6 +412,7 @@ sub DESTROY {
     my $self = shift;
     # for some reason, REF becomes SCALAR in perl -c or after apr_terminate
     return if reftype($self) eq 'SCALAR';
+    return unless ($$self && $SVN::_Core::current_pool);
     if ($$self eq $SVN::_Core::current_pool) {
         $SVN::_Core::current_pool = pop @POOLSTACK;
     }