diff --git a/gas/ChangeLog b/gas/ChangeLog
index dce15a1f92..6c763918d5 100644
--- a/gas/ChangeLog
+++ b/gas/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2016-04-02  Alan Modra  <amodra@gmail.com>
+
+	PR 19896
+	* read.c (assign_symbol): Consume rest of line after an error
+	rather than continuing to process the line.
+
 2016-04-01  Andrew Burgess  <andrew.burgess@embecosm.com>
 
 	* config/tc-arc.h (MAX_FLAG_NAME_LENGHT): Rename to...
diff --git a/gas/read.c b/gas/read.c
index 35d44c1aee..a940ff3af9 100644
--- a/gas/read.c
+++ b/gas/read.c
@@ -3255,7 +3255,9 @@ assign_symbol (char *name, int mode)
 	  && !S_CAN_BE_REDEFINED (symbolP))
 	{
 	  as_bad (_("symbol `%s' is already defined"), name);
-	  symbolP = symbol_clone (symbolP, 0);
+	  ignore_rest_of_line ();
+	  input_line_pointer--;
+	  return;
 	}
       /* If the symbol is volatile, copy the symbol and replace the
 	 original with the copy, so that previous uses of the symbol will