diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 699fd98b..2ecf7bdc 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -1120,10 +1120,13 @@ int
 evhttp_add_header(struct evkeyvalq *headers,
     const char *key, const char *value)
 {
-	struct evkeyval *header;
+	struct evkeyval *header = NULL;
 
-	if (strchr(value, "\r") != NULL || strchr(value, "\n") != NULL) {
+	event_debug(("%s: key: %s val: %s\n", __func__, key, value));
+
+	if (strchr(value, '\r') != NULL || strchr(value, '\n') != NULL) {
 		/* drop illegal headers */
+		event_debug(("%s: dropping illegal header\n"));
 		return (-1);
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/regress_http.c b/test/regress_http.c
index 5c6714c6..2553ada9 100644
--- a/test/regress_http.c
+++ b/test/regress_http.c
@@ -517,6 +517,11 @@ http_postrequest_done(struct evhttp_request *req, void *arg)
 {
 	const char *what = "This is funny";
 
+	if (req == NULL) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "FAILED (timeout)\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
 	if (req->response_code != HTTP_OK) {
 	
 		fprintf(stderr, "FAILED (response code)\n");