diff --git a/changes/bug9295 b/changes/bug9295
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c113616c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug9295
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - Avoid a crash when using --hash-password. Fixes bug 9295; bugfix on
+      0.2.4.15-rc. Found by stem integration tests.
+
diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index 2218e5078b..ad6689ceef 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -3828,6 +3828,7 @@ options_init_from_torrc(int argc, char **argv)
   }
 
   if (command == CMD_HASH_PASSWORD) {
+    cf_defaults = tor_strdup("");
     cf = tor_strdup("");
   } else {
     cf_defaults = load_torrc_from_disk(argc, argv, 1);