diff --git a/libraries/liblber/decode.c b/libraries/liblber/decode.c
index bddb359d083b07d058cdd351295fb8339539967f..2e8bf8b33013a53c3e6da7055b3716f9cd1e5d88 100644
--- a/libraries/liblber/decode.c
+++ b/libraries/liblber/decode.c
@@ -127,7 +127,11 @@ ber_peek_tag(
 	unsigned long *len )
 {
 	unsigned long	tag;
-	BerElement *ber = ber_dup( ber_in );
+	BerElement *ber;
+
+	assert( ber_in != NULL );
+
+	ber = ber_dup( ber_in );
 
 	if( ber == NULL ) {
 		return LBER_ERROR;
@@ -183,6 +187,8 @@ ber_get_int( BerElement *ber, long *num )
 {
 	unsigned long	tag, len;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &len )) == LBER_DEFAULT )
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
 
@@ -200,6 +206,8 @@ ber_get_stringb( BerElement *ber, char *buf, unsigned long *len )
 	char		*transbuf;
 #endif /* STR_TRANSLATION */
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &datalen )) == LBER_DEFAULT )
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
 	if ( datalen > (*len - 1) )
@@ -238,6 +246,9 @@ ber_get_stringa( BerElement *ber, char **buf )
 {
 	unsigned long	datalen, tag;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( buf != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &datalen )) == LBER_DEFAULT ) {
 		*buf = NULL;
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
@@ -274,6 +285,9 @@ ber_get_stringal( BerElement *ber, struct berval **bv )
 {
 	unsigned long	len, tag;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( bv != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &len )) == LBER_DEFAULT ) {
 		*bv = NULL;
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
@@ -319,6 +333,10 @@ ber_get_bitstringa( BerElement *ber, char **buf, unsigned long *blen )
 	unsigned long	datalen, tag;
 	unsigned char	unusedbits;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( buf != NULL );
+	assert( blen != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &datalen )) == LBER_DEFAULT ) {
 		*buf = NULL;
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
@@ -349,6 +367,8 @@ ber_get_null( BerElement *ber )
 {
 	unsigned long	len, tag;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+
 	if ( (tag = ber_skip_tag( ber, &len )) == LBER_DEFAULT )
 		return( LBER_DEFAULT );
 
@@ -364,6 +384,9 @@ ber_get_boolean( BerElement *ber, int *boolval )
 	long	longbool;
 	int	rc;
 
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( boolval != NULL );
+
 	rc = ber_get_int( ber, &longbool );
 	*boolval = longbool;
 
@@ -373,6 +396,10 @@ ber_get_boolean( BerElement *ber, int *boolval )
 unsigned long
 ber_first_element( BerElement *ber, unsigned long *len, char **last )
 {
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( len != NULL );
+	assert( last != NULL );
+
 	/* skip the sequence header, use the len to mark where to stop */
 	if ( ber_skip_tag( ber, len ) == LBER_DEFAULT ) {
 		*last = NULL;
@@ -395,6 +422,10 @@ ber_first_element( BerElement *ber, unsigned long *len, char **last )
 unsigned long
 ber_next_element( BerElement *ber, unsigned long *len, char *last )
 {
+	assert( ber != NULL );
+	assert( len != NULL );
+	assert( last != NULL );
+
 	if ( ber->ber_ptr == last ) {
 #ifdef LBER_END_SEQORSET 
 		return( LBER_END_SEQORSET );
@@ -431,8 +462,6 @@ va_dcl
 	long		*l;
 	unsigned long	rc, tag, len;
 
-	assert( ber != NULL );
-
 #ifdef HAVE_STDARG
 	va_start( ap, fmt );
 #else
diff --git a/libraries/liblber/io.c b/libraries/liblber/io.c
index a4e6bc93db0dc392443bb8fd901070e9d128ef52..176a965fb0a1d58f7d4404783546b72ca7a9566e 100644
--- a/libraries/liblber/io.c
+++ b/libraries/liblber/io.c
@@ -240,13 +240,13 @@ ber_alloc_t( int options )
 }
 
 BerElement *
-ber_alloc( void )
+ber_alloc( void )	/* deprecated */
 {
 	return( ber_alloc_t( 0 ) );
 }
 
 BerElement *
-der_alloc( void )
+der_alloc( void )	/* deprecated */
 {
 	return( ber_alloc_t( LBER_USE_DER ) );
 }
@@ -258,8 +258,9 @@ ber_dup( LDAP_CONST BerElement *ber )
 
 	assert( ber != NULL );
 
-	if ( (new = ber_alloc()) == NULL )
+	if ( (new = ber_alloc_t( ber->ber_options )) == NULL ) {
 		return( NULL );
+	}
 
 	*new = *ber;
 
@@ -276,6 +277,7 @@ ber_init_w_nullc( BerElement *ber, int options )
 	(void) memset( (char *)ber, '\0', sizeof( BerElement ));
 	ber->ber_tag = LBER_DEFAULT;
 	ber->ber_options = (char) options;
+	ber->ber_debug = ber_int_debug;
 }
 
 /* New C-API ber_init() */