diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/dn2id.c b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/dn2id.c
index c76c8ea613..14f587f0fe 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/dn2id.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/dn2id.c
@@ -361,6 +361,7 @@ bdb_dn2idl(
 	((char *)key.data)[0] = prefix;
 	AC_MEMCPY( &((char *)key.data)[1], e->e_nname.bv_val, key.size - 1 );
 
+	BDB_IDL_ZERO( ids );
 	rc = bdb_idl_fetch_key( op->o_bd, db, NULL, &key, ids, NULL, 0 );
 
 	if( rc != 0 ) {