diff --git a/dlls/ole32/compobj.c b/dlls/ole32/compobj.c
index db76dbcebb5..59093ff4b28 100644
--- a/dlls/ole32/compobj.c
+++ b/dlls/ole32/compobj.c
@@ -2671,9 +2671,9 @@ HRESULT WINAPI CoRegisterMessageFilter(
     apt = COM_CurrentApt();
 
     /* can't set a message filter in a multi-threaded apartment */
-    if (apt->multi_threaded)
+    if (!apt || apt->multi_threaded)
     {
-        ERR("can't set message filter in MTA\n");
+        WARN("can't set message filter in MTA or uninitialized apt\n");
         return CO_E_NOT_SUPPORTED;
     }
 
diff --git a/dlls/ole32/tests/compobj.c b/dlls/ole32/tests/compobj.c
index b2e9bf9c6fa..81bf8310fa8 100644
--- a/dlls/ole32/tests/compobj.c
+++ b/dlls/ole32/tests/compobj.c
@@ -250,9 +250,10 @@ static void test_CoRegisterMessageFilter(void)
     HRESULT hr;
     IMessageFilter *prev_filter;
 
-#if 0 /* crashes without an apartment! */
     hr = CoRegisterMessageFilter(&MessageFilter, &prev_filter);
-#endif
+    ok(hr == CO_E_NOT_SUPPORTED,
+        "CoRegisterMessageFilter should have failed with CO_E_NOT_SUPPORTED instead of 0x%08x\n",
+        hr);
 
     pCoInitializeEx(NULL, COINIT_MULTITHREADED);
     prev_filter = (IMessageFilter *)0xdeadbeef;