diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-ldap/bind.c b/servers/slapd/back-ldap/bind.c
index 598dae3fd9..20197f3ed4 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-ldap/bind.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-ldap/bind.c
@@ -271,6 +271,8 @@ retry:;
 		if ( ldap_back_retry( &lc, op, rs, LDAP_BACK_BIND_SERR ) ) {
 			goto retry;
 		}
+		if ( !lc )
+			return( rc );
 	}
 
 	ldap_pvt_thread_mutex_lock( &li->li_counter_mutex );