diff -up cups-1.4rc1/backend/ipp.c.str3262 cups-1.4rc1/backend/ipp.c
--- cups-1.4rc1/backend/ipp.c.str3262	2009-07-28 13:12:55.021509189 +0100
+++ cups-1.4rc1/backend/ipp.c	2009-07-28 13:13:19.817508734 +0100
@@ -1315,7 +1315,16 @@ main(int  argc,				/* I - Number of comm
       if (response)
       {
 	if ((job_state = ippFindAttribute(response, "job-state",
-	                                  IPP_TAG_ENUM)) != NULL)
+	                                  IPP_TAG_ENUM)) == NULL)
+	{
+	  ippDelete(response);
+
+	  _cupsLangPrintf(stderr,
+			  _("ERROR: Unable to get job-state for job %d!\n"),
+			  job_id);
+	  break;
+	}
+	else
 	{
 	 /*
           * Stop polling if the job is finished or pending-held...