diff --git a/lib/hostip.c b/lib/hostip.c
index 3db704f4454605455ae98858fadf11a97e5a5c1a..7bb8c966cc3b2fb98337a4fc2ed92fbca69a7992 100644
--- a/lib/hostip.c
+++ b/lib/hostip.c
@@ -378,9 +378,7 @@ int Curl_resolv(struct connectdata *conn,
   int wait;
   struct SessionHandle *data = conn->data;
   CURLcode result;
-
-  /* default to failure */
-  int rc = CURLRESOLV_ERROR;
+  int rc;
   *entry = NULL;
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SIGSETJMP
@@ -413,6 +411,8 @@ int Curl_resolv(struct connectdata *conn,
   /* free the allocated entry_id again */
   free(entry_id);
 
+  rc = CURLRESOLV_ERROR; /* default to failure */
+
   if (!dns) {
     /* The entry was not in the cache. Resolve it to IP address */