diff --git a/dlls/d3dx9_36/shader.c b/dlls/d3dx9_36/shader.c
index 9677e0bca65..2c21773c29f 100644
--- a/dlls/d3dx9_36/shader.c
+++ b/dlls/d3dx9_36/shader.c
@@ -661,6 +661,8 @@ HRESULT WINAPI D3DXCompileShader(LPCSTR pSrcData,
     TRACE("Shader source:\n");
     TRACE("%s\n", debugstr_an(pSrcData, srcDataLen));
 
+    if (ppErrorMsgs)
+        D3DXCreateBuffer(1, ppErrorMsgs); /* zero fill used as string end */
     return D3DERR_INVALIDCALL;
 }