diff --git a/tools/ChangeLog b/tools/ChangeLog
index 05951f75e..c42e75c87 100644
--- a/tools/ChangeLog
+++ b/tools/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2007-10-19  Werner Koch  <wk@g10code.com>
+
+	* gpgconf-comp.c (retrieve_options_from_file): Don't call fclose
+	with NULL.  Fixes bug 842.
+
 2007-10-12  Werner Koch  <wk@g10code.com>
 
 	* gpg-connect-agent.c (substitute_line): Allow ${foo} syntax.
diff --git a/tools/gpgconf-comp.c b/tools/gpgconf-comp.c
index 0f91edf44..ded646f7b 100644
--- a/tools/gpgconf-comp.c
+++ b/tools/gpgconf-comp.c
@@ -1880,7 +1880,7 @@ retrieve_options_from_file (gc_component_t component, gc_backend_t backend)
   list_option->active = 1;
   list_option->value = list;
 
-  if (fclose (list_file) && ferror (list_file))
+  if (list_file && fclose (list_file) && ferror (list_file))
     gc_error (1, errno, "error closing %s", list_pathname);
   xfree (line);
 }