diff --git a/lib/hostip.c b/lib/hostip.c
index 8526fb91c..be365d45f 100644
--- a/lib/hostip.c
+++ b/lib/hostip.c
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ struct hostent *Curl_gethost(struct SessionHandle *data,
 {
   struct hostent *h = NULL;
   unsigned long in;
+
+#ifdef HAVE_GETHOSTBYNAME_R
   int ret; /* this variable is unused on several platforms but used on some */
 
 #define CURL_NAMELOOKUP_SIZE 9000
@@ -136,7 +138,7 @@ struct hostent *Curl_gethost(struct SessionHandle *data,
   if(!buf)
     return NULL; /* major failure */
   *bufp = buf;
-
+#endif
   ret = 0; /* to prevent the compiler warning */
 
   if ( (in=inet_addr(hostname)) != INADDR_NONE ) {
@@ -206,10 +208,9 @@ struct hostent *Curl_gethost(struct SessionHandle *data,
     }
 #else
   else {
+    *bufp=NULL; /* zero this always */
     if ((h = gethostbyname(hostname)) == NULL ) {
       infof(data, "gethostbyname(2) failed for %s\n", hostname);
-      free(buf);
-      *bufp=NULL;
     }
 #endif
   }