diff --git a/binding/go/porcupine.go b/binding/go/porcupine.go
index 9bb85c0d9..f7fd29f22 100644
--- a/binding/go/porcupine.go
+++ b/binding/go/porcupine.go
@@ -218,7 +218,8 @@ func (porcupine *Porcupine) Init() error {
 			Message:    fmt.Sprintf("Specified model file could not be found at %s", porcupine.ModelPath)}
 	}
 
-	if len(porcupine.BuiltInKeywords) > 0 {
+    //nolint:nilcheck
+	if porcupine.BuiltInKeywords != nil && len(porcupine.BuiltInKeywords) > 0 {
 		for _, keyword := range porcupine.BuiltInKeywords {
 			if !keyword.IsValid() {
 				return &PorcupineError{
@@ -230,7 +231,8 @@ func (porcupine *Porcupine) Init() error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if len(porcupine.KeywordPaths) == 0 {
+    //nolint:nilcheck
+	if porcupine.KeywordPaths == nil || len(porcupine.KeywordPaths) == 0 {
 		return &PorcupineError{
 			StatusCode: INVALID_ARGUMENT,
 			Message:    "No valid keywords were provided"}