diff --git a/src/libstore-c/nix_api_store.cc b/src/libstore-c/nix_api_store.cc
index b95e5b749..0869fc91d 100644
--- a/src/libstore-c/nix_api_store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore-c/nix_api_store.cc
@@ -215,7 +215,11 @@ void nix_derivation_free(nix_derivation * drv)
 
 StorePath * nix_store_path_clone(const StorePath * p)
 {
-    return new StorePath{p->path};
+    try {
+        return new StorePath{p->path};
+    } catch (...) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
 }
 
 nix_derivation * nix_derivation_from_json(nix_c_context * context, Store * store, const char * json)
diff --git a/src/libutil-c/nix_api_util.cc b/src/libutil-c/nix_api_util.cc
index a2f7710bc..f28a9168e 100644
--- a/src/libutil-c/nix_api_util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil-c/nix_api_util.cc
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@ extern "C" {
 
 nix_c_context * nix_c_context_create()
 {
-    return new nix_c_context();
+    try {
+        return new nix_c_context();
+    } catch (...) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
 }
 
 void nix_c_context_free(nix_c_context * context)