diff --git a/src/config/help.c b/src/config/help.c
index 15a515302e375ddd54eb8cf5bf44ae6228faf62a..d347cb8caa8c8456c75364ea9d702735f3620b2a 100644
--- a/src/config/help.c
+++ b/src/config/help.c
@@ -808,7 +808,8 @@ static void ShowConsole( void )
 
     if( getenv( "PWD" ) ) return; /* Cygwin shell or Wine */
 
-    AllocConsole();
+    if( !AllocConsole() ) return;
+
     /* Use the ANSI code page (e.g. Windows-1252) as expected by the LibVLC
      * Unicode/locale subsystem. By default, we have the obsolecent OEM code
      * page (e.g. CP437 or CP850). */