diff --git a/source/lib/ldb/common/ldb_dn.c b/source/lib/ldb/common/ldb_dn.c
index a0f48723ab9..204dd3b4626 100644
--- a/source/lib/ldb/common/ldb_dn.c
+++ b/source/lib/ldb/common/ldb_dn.c
@@ -345,6 +345,10 @@ struct ldb_dn *ldb_dn_explode(void *mem_ctx, const char *dn)
 
 	/* Allocate a structure to hold the exploded DN */
 	edn = ldb_dn_new(mem_ctx);
+	if (edn == NULL) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	pdn = NULL;
 
 	/* Empty DNs */