diff -up cdparanoia-III-10.2/interface/interface.c.jx cdparanoia-III-10.2/interface/interface.c
--- cdparanoia-III-10.2/interface/interface.c.jx	2009-02-10 14:25:02.000000000 -0500
+++ cdparanoia-III-10.2/interface/interface.c	2009-02-10 14:25:49.000000000 -0500
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ long cdda_read_timed(cdrom_drive *d, voi
 
       if(sectors>0){
 	/* byteswap? */
-	if(d->bigendianp==-1) /* not determined yet */
+	if(buffer && d->bigendianp==-1) /* not determined yet */
 	  d->bigendianp=data_bigendianp(d);
 	
 	if(d->bigendianp!=bigendianp()){
