diff --git a/src/unix/os390-syscalls.c b/src/unix/os390-syscalls.c
index 260d7816..4a926c76 100644
--- a/src/unix/os390-syscalls.c
+++ b/src/unix/os390-syscalls.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ int scandir(const char* maindir, struct dirent*** namelist,
             int (*compar)(const struct dirent**,
             const struct dirent **)) {
   struct dirent** nl;
+  struct dirent** nl_copy;
   struct dirent* dirent;
   unsigned count;
   size_t allocated;
@@ -66,11 +67,13 @@ int scandir(const char* maindir, struct dirent*** namelist,
         goto error;
       memcpy(copy, dirent, sizeof(*copy));
 
-      nl = uv__realloc(nl, sizeof(*copy) * (count + 1));
-      if (nl == NULL) {
+      nl_copy = uv__realloc(nl, sizeof(*copy) * (count + 1));
+      if (nl_copy == NULL) {
         uv__free(copy);
         goto error;
       }
+
+      nl = nl_copy;
       nl[count++] = copy;
     }
   }