diff --git a/kpasswd/kpasswd-generator.c b/kpasswd/kpasswd-generator.c
index bb9b7b5d6..250d1f75e 100644
--- a/kpasswd/kpasswd-generator.c
+++ b/kpasswd/kpasswd-generator.c
@@ -79,7 +79,9 @@ generate_requests (const char *filename, unsigned nreq)
     char **words;
     unsigned nwords;
 
-    krb5_init_context (&context);
+    ret = krb5_init_context (&context);
+    if (ret)
+	errx (1, "krb5_init_context failed: %d", ret);
 
     nwords = read_words (filename, &words);
 
diff --git a/kuser/generate-requests.c b/kuser/generate-requests.c
index e874cc075..5eb300f2e 100644
--- a/kuser/generate-requests.c
+++ b/kuser/generate-requests.c
@@ -80,7 +80,9 @@ generate_requests (const char *filename, unsigned nreq)
     char **words;
     unsigned nwords;
 
-    krb5_init_context (&context);
+    ret = krb5_init_context (&context);
+    if (ret)
+	errx (1, "krb5_init_context failed: %d", ret);
 
     nwords = read_words (filename, &words);