diff --git a/ext/simplexml/simplexml.c b/ext/simplexml/simplexml.c
index 21cd5cdb4c7bd..7e1dcf9eb2a3b 100644
--- a/ext/simplexml/simplexml.c
+++ b/ext/simplexml/simplexml.c
@@ -2539,7 +2539,11 @@ static zval *php_sxe_iterator_current_data(zend_object_iterator *iter) /* {{{ */
 {
 	php_sxe_iterator *iterator = (php_sxe_iterator *)iter;
 
-	return &iterator->sxe->iter.data;
+	zval *data = &iterator->sxe->iter.data;
+	if (Z_ISUNDEF_P(data)) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	return data;
 }
 /* }}} */
 
diff --git a/ext/simplexml/tests/gh16808.phpt b/ext/simplexml/tests/gh16808.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..be0bc59fb655a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/simplexml/tests/gh16808.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+--TEST--
+GH-16808 (Segmentation fault in RecursiveIteratorIterator->current() with a xml element input)
+--EXTENSIONS--
+simplexml
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$sxe = new SimpleXMLElement("<root />");
+$test = new RecursiveIteratorIterator($sxe);
+var_dump($test->current());
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+NULL