diff --git a/src/ssl.c b/src/ssl.c
index 662bc962d..8cc83d6ca 100644
--- a/src/ssl.c
+++ b/src/ssl.c
@@ -54735,6 +54735,7 @@ error:
     if (canonSection != NULL)
         XFREE(canonSection, NULL, DYNAMIC_TYPE_PKCS7);
     wolfSSL_BIO_free(*bcont);
+    *bcont = NULL; /* reset 'bcount' pointer to NULL on failure */
 
     return NULL;
 }