diff --git a/lib/com_err/parse.y b/lib/com_err/parse.y
index 3864c59e7..8550c8d41 100644
--- a/lib/com_err/parse.y
+++ b/lib/com_err/parse.y
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ statement	: INDEX NUMBER
 		| EC STRING ',' STRING
 		{
 		    struct error_code *ec = malloc(sizeof(*ec));
+
+		    ec->next = NULL;
 		    ec->number = number;
 		    if(prefix && *prefix != '\0') {
 			ec->name = malloc(strlen(prefix) + strlen($2) + 1);