diff --git a/sm/minip12.c b/sm/minip12.c
index 01b91b710..ca4d2485d 100644
--- a/sm/minip12.c
+++ b/sm/minip12.c
@@ -2422,6 +2422,7 @@ p12_build (gcry_mpi_t *kparms, const void *cert, size_t certlen,
                      " requested charset '%s': %s\n",
                      charset, strerror (errno));
           gcry_free (pwbuf);
+          pwbuf = NULL;
           goto failure;
         }
 
@@ -2436,6 +2437,7 @@ p12_build (gcry_mpi_t *kparms, const void *cert, size_t certlen,
                      " requested charset '%s': %s\n",
                      charset, strerror (errno));
           gcry_free (pwbuf);
+          pwbuf = NULL;
           jnlib_iconv_close (cd);
           goto failure;
         }