We set this flag at the top of ctf_link_write (to tell ctf_serialize, way down under the archive file writing functions, to do the various link- time serialization things like symbol filtering and the like), but we never remember to clear it except on error. This is probably bad if you want to serialize the dict yourself directly in the future after linking it (which is... definitely a *possible* use of the API, if rather strange). libctf/ * ctf-link.c (ctf_link_write): Clear LCTF_LINKING before exit.