diff --git a/location.module b/location.module
index a24d026..0a2961a 100644
--- a/location.module
+++ b/location.module
@@ -878,7 +878,7 @@ function location_load_location($lid) {
   $location = db_fetch_array(db_query('SELECT * FROM {location} WHERE lid = %d', $lid));
   // @@@ Just thought of this, but I am not certain it is a good idea...
   if (empty($location)) {
-    $location = array('lid' => $lid);
+    $location = FALSE;
   }
   if (isset($location['source']) && $location['source'] == LOCATION_LATLON_USER_SUBMITTED) {
     // Set up location chooser or lat/lon fields from the stored location.
@@ -1084,7 +1084,12 @@ function location_save(&$location, $cow = TRUE, $criteria = array()) {
   }
 
   // Pull in fields that hold data currently not editable directly by the user.
-  $location = array_merge($oldloc, $location);
+  if (isset($oldloc['lid'])) {
+    $location = array_merge($oldloc, $location);
+  } else {
+    // the old location does not exist - we can't re-use it
+    unset($location['lid']);
+  }
 
   // Note: If the user clears all the fields, the location can still
   // be non-empty if the user didn't have access to everything..