diff --git a/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig b/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
index fa20eaa10..7bd953ef9 100644
--- a/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ pub const LoadingImage = struct {
             log.warn("failed to decode base64 data: {}", .{err});
             return error.InvalidData;
         };
+
+        if (builtin.os != .windows and std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, buf[0..size], 0) == null) {
+            // std.os.realpath *asserts* that the path does not have internal nulls instead of erroring.
+            log.warn("failed to get absolute path: BadPathName", .{});
+            return error.InvalidData;
+        }
         var abs_buf: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
         const path = std.os.realpath(buf[0..size], &abs_buf) catch |err| {
             log.warn("failed to get absolute path: {}", .{err});