diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ef65b5e4..a70f4d8c 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ Changes in current version:
  o switch thread support so that locks get allocated as they are needed.
  o make event methods static so that they are not exported; from Andrei Nigmatulin
  o make RPC replies use application/octet-stream as mime type
+ o do not delete uninitialized timeout event in evdns
 	
 Changes in 1.4.0:
  o allow \r or \n individually to separate HTTP headers instead of the standard "\r\n"; from Charles Kerr.
diff --git a/evdns.c b/evdns.c
index 8312cce9..f02885af 100644
--- a/evdns.c
+++ b/evdns.c
@@ -2022,7 +2022,8 @@ evdns_clear_nameservers_and_suspend(void)
 	while (1) {
 		struct nameserver *next = server->next;
 		(void) event_del(&server->event);
-		(void) evtimer_del(&server->timeout_event);
+		if (evtimer_initialized(&server->timeout_event))
+			(void) evtimer_del(&server->timeout_event);
 		if (server->socket >= 0)
 			CLOSE_SOCKET(server->socket);
 		event_free(server);