diff --git a/lib/cookie.c b/lib/cookie.c
index 69bc04260..68054e1c4 100644
--- a/lib/cookie.c
+++ b/lib/cookie.c
@@ -245,18 +245,17 @@ pathmatched:
  */
 static const char *get_top_domain(const char * const domain, size_t *outlen)
 {
-  size_t len;
+  size_t len = 0;
   const char *first = NULL, *last;
 
-  if(!domain)
-    return NULL;
-
-  len = strlen(domain);
-  last = memrchr(domain, '.', len);
-  if(last) {
-    first = memrchr(domain, '.', (last - domain));
-    if(first)
-      len -= (++first - domain);
+  if(domain) {
+    len = strlen(domain);
+    last = memrchr(domain, '.', len);
+    if(last) {
+      first = memrchr(domain, '.', (last - domain));
+      if(first)
+        len -= (++first - domain);
+    }
   }
 
   if(outlen)