diff --git a/library/ssl_tls.c b/library/ssl_tls.c
index c42eccc..4704b44 100644
--- a/library/ssl_tls.c
+++ b/library/ssl_tls.c
@@ -3051,6 +3051,7 @@
     {
         SSL_DEBUG_MSG( 1, ( "malloc(%d bytes) failed", len ) );
         free( ssl-> in_ctr );
+        ssl->in_ctr = NULL;
         return( POLARSSL_ERR_SSL_MALLOC_FAILED );
     }