diff --git a/src/geo_iterator/grib_iterator_class_lambert_azimuthal_equal_area.cc b/src/geo_iterator/grib_iterator_class_lambert_azimuthal_equal_area.cc
index 15eff4bef..a3f2f32f8 100644
--- a/src/geo_iterator/grib_iterator_class_lambert_azimuthal_equal_area.cc
+++ b/src/geo_iterator/grib_iterator_class_lambert_azimuthal_equal_area.cc
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ int LambertAzimuthalEqualArea::init_oblate(grib_handle* h,
         return GRIB_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
     }
     lons_ = (double*)grib_context_malloc(h->context, nv * sizeof(double));
-    if (!lats_) {
+    if (!lons_) {
         grib_context_log(h->context, GRIB_LOG_ERROR, "%s: Error allocating %zu bytes", ITER, nv * sizeof(double));
         return GRIB_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
     }