diff --git a/s3log/webhook.go b/s3log/webhook.go
index c5f6d45a..3a1c16c0 100644
--- a/s3log/webhook.go
+++ b/s3log/webhook.go
@@ -131,11 +131,13 @@ func (wl *WebhookLogger) sendLog(lf LogFields) {
 	jsonLog, err := json.Marshal(lf)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to parse the log data: %v\n", err.Error())
+		return
 	}
 
 	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, wl.url, bytes.NewReader(jsonLog))
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		return
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
 
diff --git a/s3log/webhook_test.go b/s3log/webhook_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..599b17c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/s3log/webhook_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// Copyright 2023 Versity Software
+// This file is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+// (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+package s3log
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestSendLog_InvalidURL_NoPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	wl := &WebhookLogger{url: "://invalid"}
+	// sendLog must not panic when http.NewRequest fails due to
+	// an invalid URL. Before the fix, the nil req was dereferenced.
+	wl.sendLog(LogFields{})
+}