diff --git a/lib/curl_threads.c b/lib/curl_threads.c
index 9e4bbc96ec..36a64eb8e3 100644
--- a/lib/curl_threads.c
+++ b/lib/curl_threads.c
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ curl_thread_t Curl_thread_create(CURL_THREAD_RETURN_T
                                  (CURL_STDCALL *func) (void *), void *arg)
 {
   curl_thread_t t = curlx_malloc(sizeof(pthread_t));
-  struct Curl_actual_call *ac = curlx_malloc(sizeof(struct Curl_actual_call));
+  struct Curl_actual_call *ac = NULL;
   int rc;
+
+  if(t)
+    ac = curlx_malloc(sizeof(struct Curl_actual_call));
   if(!(ac && t))
     goto err;