diff --git a/servers/slapd/schema_init.c b/servers/slapd/schema_init.c
index 8dd5c05129..732b706d7b 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/schema_init.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/schema_init.c
@@ -1291,6 +1291,7 @@ telephoneNumberNormalize(
 
 	if( normalized->bv_len == 0 ) {
 		sl_free( normalized->bv_val, ctx );
+		normalized->bv_val = NULL;
 		return LDAP_INVALID_SYNTAX;
 	}