diff --git a/src/rr.c b/src/rr.c
index 7e45394..a29bfc3 100644
--- a/src/rr.c
+++ b/src/rr.c
@@ -368,6 +368,7 @@ rr_decode(const uint8_t *ptr, size_t *n, const uint8_t *root, char **ss, uint8_t
         return (ptr);
 err:
         free(*ss);
+        *ss = NULL;
         return (NULL);
 }