diff --git a/builtins/declare.def b/builtins/declare.def
index 55206fa7..8b9b850c 100644
--- a/builtins/declare.def
+++ b/builtins/declare.def
@@ -513,6 +513,11 @@ declare_internal (list, local_var)
 	      *subscript_start = '[';	/* ] */
 	      var = assign_array_element (name, value, 0);	/* XXX - not aflags */
 	      *subscript_start = '\0';
+	      if (var == 0)	/* some kind of assignment error */
+		{
+		  assign_error++;
+		  NEXT_VARIABLE ();
+		}
 	    }
 	  else if (simple_array_assign)
 	    {
diff --git a/patchlevel.h b/patchlevel.h
index 0d980e68..8ce27281 100644
--- a/patchlevel.h
+++ b/patchlevel.h
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@
    regexp `^#define[ 	]*PATCHLEVEL', since that's what support/mkversion.sh
    looks for to find the patch level (for the sccs version string). */
 
-#define PATCHLEVEL 18
+#define PATCHLEVEL 19
 
 #endif /* _PATCHLEVEL_H_ */