diff --git a/src/ex_docmd.c b/src/ex_docmd.c
index 748e3bc..13e26d5 100644
--- a/src/ex_docmd.c
+++ b/src/ex_docmd.c
@@ -4688,6 +4688,7 @@
     char_u	*arg = eap->arg + 2;
     int		*pp = NULL;
 #ifdef FEAT_MBYTE
+    int		bad_char_idx;
     char_u	*p;
 #endif
 
@@ -4739,7 +4740,7 @@
     else if (STRNCMP(arg, "bad", 3) == 0)
     {
 	arg += 3;
-	pp = &eap->bad_char_idx;
+	pp = &bad_char_idx;
     }
 #endif
 
@@ -4770,7 +4771,7 @@
     {
 	/* Check ++bad= argument.  Must be a single-byte character, "keep" or
 	 * "drop". */
-	p = eap->cmd + eap->bad_char_idx;
+	p = eap->cmd + bad_char_idx;
 	if (STRICMP(p, "keep") == 0)
 	    eap->bad_char = BAD_KEEP;
 	else if (STRICMP(p, "drop") == 0)