diff --git a/src/libacl/aclprocs.c b/src/libacl/aclprocs.c
index fbdfaa6f9c..56af0d8184 100644
--- a/src/libacl/aclprocs.c
+++ b/src/libacl/aclprocs.c
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ acl_Externalize_pr(int (*func)(idlist *ids, namelist *names), struct acl_accessL
     acl_NewExternalACL(acl->total, elist);
     nextc = *elist;
     lids.idlist_val = calloc(ACL_MAXENTRIES, sizeof(afs_int32));
+    if (lids.idlist_val == NULL) {
+	return ENOMEM;
+    }
     lids.idlist_len = acl->total;
     lnames.namelist_len = 0;
     lnames.namelist_val = (prname *) 0;