diff --git a/src/XTC/dump_xtc.cpp b/src/XTC/dump_xtc.cpp
index 7be62d256d..eac87fae85 100644
--- a/src/XTC/dump_xtc.cpp
+++ b/src/XTC/dump_xtc.cpp
@@ -427,6 +427,8 @@ void xdrfreebuf()
 {
   if (ip) free(ip);
   if (buf) free(buf);
+  ip = NULL;
+  buf = NULL;
 }