diff --git a/clients/tools/ldapdelete.c b/clients/tools/ldapdelete.c
index 4eab6b14894cb801b9426cdabda0ae15bbb97c03..319a2de41f812cb6c78eca8c01b1d09cb08bf955 100644
--- a/clients/tools/ldapdelete.c
+++ b/clients/tools/ldapdelete.c
@@ -194,12 +194,12 @@ main( int argc, char **argv )
 		}
 	}
 
+	rc = 0;
     if ( fp == NULL ) {
 	for ( ; optind < argc; ++optind ) {
 	    rc = dodelete( ld, argv[ optind ] );
 	}
     } else {
-	rc = 0;
 	while ((rc == 0 || contoper) && fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), fp) != NULL) {
 	    buf[ strlen( buf ) - 1 ] = '\0';	/* remove trailing newline */
 	    if ( *buf != '\0' ) {