diff --git a/src/osx/carbon/app.cpp b/src/osx/carbon/app.cpp
index ab14fd4058..4f1417300e 100644
--- a/src/osx/carbon/app.cpp
+++ b/src/osx/carbon/app.cpp
@@ -233,9 +233,13 @@ short wxApp::MacHandleAEPDoc(const WXEVENTREF event , WXEVENTREF WXUNUSED(reply)
 
     for (i = 1; i <= itemsInList; i++)
     {
-        AEGetNthPtr(
+        err = AEGetNthPtr(
             &docList, i, typeFSRef, &keywd, &returnedType,
             (Ptr)&theRef, sizeof(theRef), &actualSize);
+        
+        if ( err != noErr)
+            return err;
+        
         fName = wxMacFSRefToPath( &theRef ) ;
 
         MacPrintFile(fName);