diff --git a/crypto/ocsp/ocsp_lib.c b/crypto/ocsp/ocsp_lib.c
index 27450811d..441ccb7a9 100644
--- a/crypto/ocsp/ocsp_lib.c
+++ b/crypto/ocsp/ocsp_lib.c
@@ -169,14 +169,14 @@ int OCSP_parse_url(char *url, char **phost, char **pport, char **ppath, int *pss
 
 	char *host, *port;
 
-	/* dup the buffer since we are going to mess with it */
-	buf = BUF_strdup(url);
-	if (!buf) goto mem_err;
-
 	*phost = NULL;
 	*pport = NULL;
 	*ppath = NULL;
 
+	/* dup the buffer since we are going to mess with it */
+	buf = BUF_strdup(url);
+	if (!buf) goto mem_err;
+
 	/* Check for initial colon */
 	p = strchr(buf, ':');