diff --git a/src/support/allocators/secure.h b/src/support/allocators/secure.h
--- a/src/support/allocators/secure.h
+++ b/src/support/allocators/secure.h
@@ -35,8 +35,12 @@
     };
 
     T *allocate(std::size_t n, const void *hint = 0) {
-        return static_cast<T *>(
+        T *allocation = static_cast<T *>(
             LockedPoolManager::Instance().alloc(sizeof(T) * n));
+        if (!allocation) {
+            throw std::bad_alloc();
+        }
+        return allocation;
     }
 
     void deallocate(T *p, std::size_t n) {
diff --git a/src/support/lockedpool.h b/src/support/lockedpool.h
--- a/src/support/lockedpool.h
+++ b/src/support/lockedpool.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     /**
      * Allocate and lock memory pages.
      * If len is not a multiple of the system page size, it is rounded up.
-     * Returns 0 in case of allocation failure.
+     * Returns nullptr in case of allocation failure.
      *
      * If locking the memory pages could not be accomplished it will still
      * return the memory, however the lockingSuccess flag will be false.
diff --git a/src/support/lockedpool.cpp b/src/support/lockedpool.cpp
--- a/src/support/lockedpool.cpp
+++ b/src/support/lockedpool.cpp
@@ -250,6 +250,9 @@
     len = align_up(len, page_size);
     addr = mmap(nullptr, len, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
                 MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0);
+    if (addr == MAP_FAILED) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
     if (addr) {
         *lockingSuccess = mlock(addr, len) == 0;
     }