diff --git a/lib/libspl/getexecname.c b/lib/libspl/getexecname.c
index 43bf39ae33..c564eed055 100644
--- a/lib/libspl/getexecname.c
+++ b/lib/libspl/getexecname.c
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ getexecname(void)
 			execname[rc] = '\0';
 			ptr = execname;
 		}
+	} else {
+		ptr = execname;
 	}
 
 	pthread_mutex_unlock(&mtx);