diff --git a/servers/lloadd/operation.c b/servers/lloadd/operation.c
index f959701c44..0fdc1f4c40 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/operation.c
+++ b/servers/lloadd/operation.c
@@ -146,6 +146,10 @@ operation_init( LloadConnection *c, BerElement *ber )
         goto fail;
     }
 
+    if ( !op->o_client_msgid ) {
+        goto fail;
+    }
+
     CONNECTION_ASSERT_LOCKED(c);
     rc = tavl_insert( &c->c_ops, op, operation_client_cmp, avl_dup_error );
     if ( rc ) {