diff --git a/apps/req.c b/apps/req.c
index 316163ff78..6a19144931 100644
--- a/apps/req.c
+++ b/apps/req.c
@@ -1486,7 +1486,13 @@ start:
 #ifdef CHARSET_EBCDIC
 	ebcdic2ascii(buf, buf, i);
 #endif
-	if(!req_check_len(i, n_min, n_max)) goto start;
+	if(!req_check_len(i, n_min, n_max))
+		{
+		if (batch || value)
+			return 0;
+		goto start;
+		}
+
 	if (!X509_NAME_add_entry_by_NID(n,nid, chtype,
 				(unsigned char *) buf, -1,-1,mval)) goto err;
 	ret=1;
@@ -1545,7 +1551,12 @@ start:
 #ifdef CHARSET_EBCDIC
 	ebcdic2ascii(buf, buf, i);
 #endif
-	if(!req_check_len(i, n_min, n_max)) goto start;
+	if(!req_check_len(i, n_min, n_max))
+		{
+		if (batch || value)
+			return 0;
+		goto start;
+		}
 
 	if(!X509_REQ_add1_attr_by_NID(req, nid, chtype,
 					(unsigned char *)buf, -1)) {