diff --git a/lib/hdb/hdb-sqlite.c b/lib/hdb/hdb-sqlite.c
index ef5419686..71d250402 100644
--- a/lib/hdb/hdb-sqlite.c
+++ b/lib/hdb/hdb-sqlite.c
@@ -1042,7 +1042,7 @@ hdb_sqlite_create(krb5_context context, HDB **db, const char *filename)
     if (ret) {
         free((*db)->hdb_db);
         free(*db);
-
+        *db = NULL;
         return ret;
     }