diff --git a/src/kike.c b/src/kike.c
index 207ff76..5bcab42 100644
--- a/src/kike.c
+++ b/src/kike.c
@@ -1082,7 +1082,13 @@ irc_initialize_ssl (struct server_context *ctx)
 
 	ctx->ssl_ctx = SSL_CTX_new (SSLv23_server_method ());
 	if (!ctx->ssl_ctx)
+	{
+		// XXX: these error strings are really nasty; also there could be
+		//   multiple errors on the OpenSSL stack.
+		print_error ("%s: %s", "could not initialize SSL",
+			ERR_error_string (ERR_get_error (), NULL));
 		goto error_ssl_1;
+	}
 	SSL_CTX_set_verify (ctx->ssl_ctx,
 		SSL_VERIFY_PEER | SSL_VERIFY_CLIENT_ONCE, irc_ssl_verify_callback);
 	// XXX: maybe we should call SSL_CTX_set_options() for some workarounds
@@ -1114,10 +1120,6 @@ error_ssl_2:
 	SSL_CTX_free (ctx->ssl_ctx);
 	ctx->ssl_ctx = NULL;
 error_ssl_1:
-	// XXX: these error strings are really nasty; also there could be
-	//   multiple errors on the OpenSSL stack.
-	print_error ("%s: %s", "could not initialize SSL",
-		ERR_error_string (ERR_get_error (), NULL));
 	return false;
 }