diff --git a/libdaemon/client/config-util.c b/libdaemon/client/config-util.c
index 8aa9ed2e4..a65a2cce7 100644
--- a/libdaemon/client/config-util.c
+++ b/libdaemon/client/config-util.c
@@ -289,8 +289,9 @@ int buffer_append(struct buffer *buf, const char *string)
 {
 	int len = strlen(string);
 
-	if (buf->allocated - buf->used <= len)
-		buffer_realloc(buf, len + 1);
+	if ((buf->allocated - buf->used <= len) &&
+	    !buffer_realloc(buf, len + 1))
+                return 0;
 
 	strcpy(buf->mem + buf->used, string);
 	buf->used += len;