diff --git a/lib/curl_addrinfo.c b/lib/curl_addrinfo.c
index 7fb816f3a2..6feccf2d08 100644
--- a/lib/curl_addrinfo.c
+++ b/lib/curl_addrinfo.c
@@ -208,6 +208,18 @@ Curl_getaddrinfo_ex(const char *nodename,
     Curl_freeaddrinfo(cafirst);
     cafirst = NULL;
   }
+  else if(!cafirst) {
+#ifdef EAI_NONAME
+    /* rfc3493 conformant */
+    error = EAI_NONAME;
+#else
+    /* rfc3493 obsoleted */
+    error = EAI_NODATA;
+#endif
+#ifdef USE_WINSOCK
+    SET_SOCKERRNO(error);
+#endif
+  }
 
   *result = cafirst;