diff --git a/servers/slapd/filter.c b/servers/slapd/filter.c
index 01b3970585830b08485187e4534498774afcb915..f9a0053aed9cd091eb401ae2803fadf661eff115 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/filter.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/filter.c
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ get_filter(
 		break;
 
 	default:
-		(void) ber_skip_tag( ber, &len );
+		(void) ber_scanf( ber, "x" ); /* skip the element */
 		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "get_filter: unknown filter type=%lu\n",
 		       f->f_choice, 0, 0 );
 		f->f_choice = SLAPD_FILTER_COMPUTED;