diff --git a/dix/dispatch.c b/dix/dispatch.c
index f7dc019026..09ae12fffb 100644
--- a/dix/dispatch.c
+++ b/dix/dispatch.c
@@ -3776,6 +3776,7 @@ NextAvailableClient(void *ospriv)
         return (ClientPtr) NULL;
     InitClient(client, i, ospriv);
     if (!InitClientResources(client)) {
+        clients[i] = NULL;
         dixFreeObjectWithPrivates(client, PRIVATE_CLIENT);
         return (ClientPtr) NULL;
     }
@@ -3783,6 +3784,7 @@ NextAvailableClient(void *ospriv)
     data.length = bytes_to_int32(sz_xReq + sz_xConnClientPrefix);
     if (!InsertFakeRequest(client, (char *) &data, sz_xReq)) {
         FreeClientResources(client);
+        clients[i] = NULL;
         dixFreeObjectWithPrivates(client, PRIVATE_CLIENT);
         return (ClientPtr) NULL;
     }