diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorfilewriter.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorfilewriter.cpp
index c02d2b7afa74..515539a14006 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorfilewriter.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorfilewriter.cpp
@@ -647,7 +647,10 @@ QgsVectorFileWriter::writeAsVectorFormat( QgsVectorLayer* layer,
   QgsVectorFileWriter* writer =
     new QgsVectorFileWriter( fileName, fileEncoding, skipAttributeCreation ? QgsFieldMap() : layer->pendingFields(), layer->wkbType(), outputCRS, driverName, datasourceOptions, layerOptions, newFilename );
 
-  QgsDebugMsg( "newFilename = " + *newFilename );
+  if ( newFilename )
+  {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "newFilename = " + *newFilename );
+  }
 
   // check whether file creation was successful
   WriterError err = writer->hasError();
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_qgsvectorfilewriter.py b/tests/src/python/test_qgsvectorfilewriter.py
index 875ead9482bb..ca2d24c9ec4f 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_qgsvectorfilewriter.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_qgsvectorfilewriter.py
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ def testWrite(self):
         myLayerOptions = QStringList()
         mySelectedOnlyFlag = False
         mySkipAttributesFlag = False
-        myNewFileName = QString()
         myGeoCrs = QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem()
         myGeoCrs.createFromId(4326, QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem.EpsgCrsId)
         myResult = QgsVectorFileWriter.writeAsVectorFormat(
@@ -80,8 +79,7 @@ def testWrite(self):
             myErrorMessage,
             myOptions,
             myLayerOptions,
-            mySkipAttributesFlag,
-            myNewFileName)
+            mySkipAttributesFlag)
         assert myResult==QgsVectorFileWriter.NoError
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':