diff --git a/tools/iio/iio_utils.c b/tools/iio/iio_utils.c
index 4bbd6e7959cdad471e6cb0bdbf0d0cda915cd743..8475b832ee397914a71fd8be781ccc3f043e45a0 100644
--- a/tools/iio/iio_utils.c
+++ b/tools/iio/iio_utils.c
@@ -526,6 +526,8 @@ int build_channel_array(const char *device_dir,
 		free((*ci_array)[i].generic_name);
 	}
 	free(*ci_array);
+	*ci_array = NULL;
+	*counter = 0;
 error_close_dir:
 	if (dp)
 		if (closedir(dp) == -1)