diff --git a/django/contrib/gis/geoip/base.py b/django/contrib/gis/geoip/base.py
index 944240c811..4b8b6e1ed3 100644
--- a/django/contrib/gis/geoip/base.py
+++ b/django/contrib/gis/geoip/base.py
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ class GeoIP(object):
 
     def __del__(self):
         # Cleaning any GeoIP file handles lying around.
+        if GeoIP_delete is None:
+            return
         if self._country: GeoIP_delete(self._country)
         if self._city: GeoIP_delete(self._city)