diff --git a/usr.bin/ar/ar.c b/usr.bin/ar/ar.c
index 0c6931521ab4..b93c968501c2 100644
--- a/usr.bin/ar/ar.c
+++ b/usr.bin/ar/ar.c
@@ -272,10 +272,10 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		    "only one of -s and -S options allowed");
 
 	if (bsdar->options & (AR_A | AR_B)) {
-		if ((bsdar->posarg = *argv) == NULL)
+		if (*argv == NULL)
 			bsdar_errc(bsdar, EX_USAGE, 0,
 			    "no position operand specified");
-		if ((bsdar->posarg = basename(bsdar->posarg)) == NULL)
+		if ((bsdar->posarg = basename(*argv)) == NULL)
 			bsdar_errc(bsdar, EX_SOFTWARE, errno,
 			    "basename failed");
 		argc--;