diff --git a/src/test/test_tortls.c b/src/test/test_tortls.c
index 944edc445913d692bdcc59e078614225284b458f..280e7fa3b03cbe304c1ae37b23ddf1d4b64dff19 100644
--- a/src/test/test_tortls.c
+++ b/src/test/test_tortls.c
@@ -2864,6 +2864,7 @@ test_tortls_cert_new(void *ignored)
   ret = tor_x509_cert_new(cert);
   tt_assert(ret);
   tor_x509_cert_free(ret);
+  ret = NULL;
 
 #if 0
   cert = read_cert_from(validCertString);