diff --git a/lib/checkbufferoverrun.cpp b/lib/checkbufferoverrun.cpp
index 9ec9b1c24..a3f8f2a51 100644
--- a/lib/checkbufferoverrun.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkbufferoverrun.cpp
@@ -816,6 +816,10 @@ void CheckBufferOverrun::checkGlobalAndLocalVariable()
             if (tok->next()->str() == "*")
                 ++varpos;
 
+            // make sure the variable is defined
+            if (tok->tokAt(varpos + 2)->varId() == 0)
+                continue; // FIXME we loose the check for negative index when we bail
+
             // get maximum size from type
             // find where this token is defined
             const Token *index_type = Token::findmatch(_tokenizer->tokens(), "%varid%", tok->tokAt(varpos + 2)->varId());
diff --git a/test/testbufferoverrun.cpp b/test/testbufferoverrun.cpp
index 90d4f9ebb..78ad0b764 100644
--- a/test/testbufferoverrun.cpp
+++ b/test/testbufferoverrun.cpp
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ private:
         TEST_CASE(array_index_22);
         TEST_CASE(array_index_23);
         TEST_CASE(array_index_24); // ticket #1492
+        TEST_CASE(array_index_25); // ticket #1536
         TEST_CASE(array_index_multidim);
         TEST_CASE(array_index_switch_in_for);
         TEST_CASE(array_index_calculation);
@@ -794,6 +795,16 @@ private:
                       "[test.cpp:4]: (error) Array 'a[65536]' index 65536 out of bounds\n", errout.str());
     }
 
+    void array_index_25()
+    {
+        // ticket #1536
+        check("void foo()\n"
+              "{\n"
+              "   long l[SOME_SIZE];\n"
+              "}\n");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
+    }
+
     void array_index_multidim()
     {
         check("void f()\n"