diff --git a/tools/libxl/libxl.c b/tools/libxl/libxl.c
index 2b847eff88..26eaee4841 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/libxl.c
+++ b/tools/libxl/libxl.c
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ int libxl_ctx_alloc(libxl_ctx **pctx, int version,
         LIBXL__LOG(ctx, LIBXL__LOG_ERROR, "Failed to initialize mutex");
         free(ctx);
         ctx = 0;
+        rc = ERROR_FAIL;
+        goto out;
     }
 
     /* Now ctx is safe for ctx_free; failures simply set rc and "goto out" */