diff --git a/lib/tftp.c b/lib/tftp.c
index 041a5f340e82cb93d646c92fbcc7552f52c6f544..4e0b6de95a3c13f078e706029e3dbf7423f57c02 100644
--- a/lib/tftp.c
+++ b/lib/tftp.c
@@ -612,10 +612,12 @@ static CURLcode Curl_tftp_connect(struct connectdata *conn, bool *done)
      sessionhandle, deal with it */
   Curl_reset_reqproto(conn);
 
-  state = conn->data->reqdata.proto.tftp = calloc(sizeof(tftp_state_data_t),
-                                                  1);
-  if(!state)
-    return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
+  if(!(state = conn->data->reqdata.proto.tftp)) {
+    state = conn->data->reqdata.proto.tftp = calloc(sizeof(tftp_state_data_t),
+                                                    1);
+    if(!state)
+      return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
+  }
 
   conn->bits.close = FALSE; /* keep it open if possible */