diff --git a/src/vehicle.cpp b/src/vehicle.cpp
index b062608ab105b..02c2d76ed6c8e 100644
--- a/src/vehicle.cpp
+++ b/src/vehicle.cpp
@@ -997,9 +997,11 @@ void vehicle::smash( map &m, float hp_percent_loss_min, float hp_percent_loss_ma
             if( p == other_p ) {
                 continue;
             }
-            if( ( part_info( p ).location.empty() &&
-                  part_info( p ).get_id() == part_info( other_p ).get_id() ) ||
-                ( part_info( p ).location == part_info( other_p ).location ) ) {
+            const vpart_info &p_info = part_info( p );
+            const vpart_info &other_p_info = part_info( other_p );
+
+            if( p_info.get_id() == other_p_info.get_id() ||
+                ( !p_info.location.empty() && p_info.location == other_p_info.location ) ) {
                 // Deferred creation of the handler to here so it is only created when actually needed.
                 if( !handler_ptr ) {
                     // This is a heuristic: we just assume the default handler is good enough when called