diff --git a/src/or/dirserv.c b/src/or/dirserv.c
index fb2dc6dc53..cdbb390887 100644
--- a/src/or/dirserv.c
+++ b/src/or/dirserv.c
@@ -523,6 +523,7 @@ dirserv_add_multiple_descriptors(const char *desc, const char **msg)
   smartlist_t *list;
   const char *s;
   int n_parsed = 0;
+  tor_assert(msg);
 
   s = desc;
   list = smartlist_create();
diff --git a/src/or/routerlist.c b/src/or/routerlist.c
index 858e9ff96f..a92bbe61da 100644
--- a/src/or/routerlist.c
+++ b/src/or/routerlist.c
@@ -2462,7 +2462,7 @@ router_add_extrainfo_to_routerlist(extrainfo_t *ei, const char **msg,
 {
   int inserted;
   (void)from_fetch;
-  (void)msg;
+  if (msg) *msg = NULL;
 
   inserted = extrainfo_insert(router_get_routerlist(), ei);