diff --git a/src/frontend/inpcom.c b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
index 179b85fd3..395c4ce7c 100644
--- a/src/frontend/inpcom.c
+++ b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
@@ -1352,10 +1352,9 @@ inp_chk_for_multi_in_vcvs(struct line *c, int *line_number)
 
                 *c->li_line = '*';
                 next_card   = c->li_next;
-                a_card = xx_new_line(NULL, m_instance, (*line_number)++, 0);
-                c->li_next  = a_card;
+                c = c->li_next = xx_new_line(NULL, m_instance, (*line_number)++, 0);
                 model_card = xx_new_line(next_card, m_model, (*line_number)++, 0);
-                a_card->li_next     = model_card;
+                c->li_next = model_card;
                 // skip these two new cards
                 c = model_card;
             }