diff --git a/lib/libpam/modules/pam_unix/pam_unix.c b/lib/libpam/modules/pam_unix/pam_unix.c
index 9a213e2040c..8c6b822aa74 100644
--- a/lib/libpam/modules/pam_unix/pam_unix.c
+++ b/lib/libpam/modules/pam_unix/pam_unix.c
@@ -278,13 +278,13 @@ pam_sm_chauthtok(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags,
 	int pfd, tfd, retval;
 
 	if (openpam_get_option(pamh, PAM_OPT_AUTH_AS_SELF))
-		pwd = getpwnam(getlogin());
+		user = getlogin();
 	else {
 		retval = pam_get_user(pamh, &user, NULL);
 		if (retval != PAM_SUCCESS)
 			return (retval);
-		pwd = getpwnam(user);
 	}
+	pwd = getpwnam(user);
 
 	if (pwd == NULL)
 		return (PAM_AUTHTOK_RECOVERY_ERR);