diff --git a/src/vim9compile.c b/src/vim9compile.c
index 7464fc1..4b8a8ad 100644
--- a/src/vim9compile.c
+++ b/src/vim9compile.c
@@ -5669,7 +5669,11 @@
 		    wp = op + oplen;
 		    p = skipwhite(wp);
 		    if (may_get_next_line_error(wp, &p, cctx) == FAIL)
+		    {
+			if (new_local)
+			    ++cctx->ctx_locals.ga_len;
 			goto theend;
+		    }
 		    r = compile_expr0_ext(&p, cctx, &is_const);
 		    if (new_local)
 			++cctx->ctx_locals.ga_len;