diff -Naur opendnssec-1.4.0a1-orig/signer/src/signer/namedb.c opendnssec-1.4.0a1/signer/src/signer/namedb.c
--- opendnssec-1.4.0a1-orig/signer/src/signer/namedb.c	2012-03-15 13:25:45.000000000 -0400
+++ opendnssec-1.4.0a1/signer/src/signer/namedb.c	2012-05-16 11:32:52.123793809 -0400
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@
     if (!denial || !db || !db->denials) {
         return NULL;
     }
-    if (denial->rrset->rr_count) {
+    if (denial->rrset && denial->rrset->rr_count) {
         ods_log_error("[%s] unable to delete denial: denial in use [#%u]",
             db_str, denial->rrset->rr_count);
         log_dname(denial->dname, "ERR -DENIAL", LOG_ERR);