--- /dev/null
+--- db-5.3.28/src/env/env_open.c.old 2017-06-26 10:32:11.011419981 +0200
++++ db-5.3.28/src/env/env_open.c 2017-06-26 10:32:46.893721233 +0200
+@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@
+ env->db_mode = mode == 0 ? DB_MODE_660 : mode;
+
+ /* Read the DB_CONFIG file. */
+- if ((ret = __env_read_db_config(env)) != 0)
++ if (env->db_home != NULL && (ret = __env_read_db_config(env)) != 0)
+ return (ret);
+
+ /*