diff --git a/services/camera/libcameraservice/device3/Camera3Device.cpp b/services/camera/libcameraservice/device3/Camera3Device.cpp
index 61665acc2f..b2011193f1 100644
--- a/services/camera/libcameraservice/device3/Camera3Device.cpp
+++ b/services/camera/libcameraservice/device3/Camera3Device.cpp
@@ -1804,7 +1804,11 @@ void Camera3Device::pauseStateNotify(bool enable) {
 
 // Pause to reconfigure
 status_t Camera3Device::internalPauseAndWaitLocked(nsecs_t maxExpectedDuration) {
-    mRequestThread->setPaused(true);
+    if (mRequestThread.get() != nullptr) {
+        mRequestThread->setPaused(true);
+    } else {
+        return NO_INIT;
+    }
 
     ALOGV("%s: Camera %s: Internal wait until idle (% " PRIi64 " ns)", __FUNCTION__, mId.string(),
           maxExpectedDuration);