diff --git a/src/conf.c b/src/conf.c
index 104f92ad06..cabde9e36f 100644
--- a/src/conf.c
+++ b/src/conf.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ ConfGetNodeOrCreate(char *name, int final)
             node->name = SCStrdup(key);
             if (unlikely(node->name == NULL)) {
                 ConfNodeFree(node);
+                node = NULL;
                 SCLogWarning(SC_ERR_MEM_ALLOC,
                     "Failed to allocate memory for configuration.");
                 goto end;