diff --git a/plugins/pixbuf-thumbnailer/pixbuf-thumbnailer.c b/plugins/pixbuf-thumbnailer/pixbuf-thumbnailer.c
index 9c64659..7b47988 100644
--- a/plugins/pixbuf-thumbnailer/pixbuf-thumbnailer.c
+++ b/plugins/pixbuf-thumbnailer/pixbuf-thumbnailer.c
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ pixbuf_thumbnailer_new_from_stream (GInputStream      *stream,
   if (!gdk_pixbuf_loader_close (loader, error))
     {
       result = FALSE;
-      error = NULL;
+      *error = NULL;
     }
 
   if (result)