diff --git a/packages/atauth/src/auth_cli.c b/packages/atauth/src/auth_cli.c
index 1165647f..c858256e 100644
--- a/packages/atauth/src/auth_cli.c
+++ b/packages/atauth/src/auth_cli.c
@@ -206,8 +206,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    */
   // 3.1 Initialize and populate enrollment params structs
   atcommons_enroll_namespace_list_t *ns_list = malloc(sizeof(atcommons_enroll_namespace_list_t));
-  if (ns_list == NULL) {
-    atlogger_log(TAG, ATLOGGER_LOGGING_LEVEL_ERROR, "Could not allocate memory for namespace list\n");
+  if((ret = atcommmons_init_enroll_namespace_list(ns_list)) != 0) {
     goto enc_pub_key_exit;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/atcommons/include/atcommons/enroll_namespace.h b/packages/atcommons/include/atcommons/enroll_namespace.h
index 25ea89c7..202afa3f 100644
--- a/packages/atcommons/include/atcommons/enroll_namespace.h
+++ b/packages/atcommons/include/atcommons/enroll_namespace.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef ATCOMMONS_ENROLL_NAMESPACE_H
 #define ATCOMMONS_ENROLL_NAMESPACE_H
 
+#include <atlogger/atlogger.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 
 typedef struct {
@@ -13,6 +14,14 @@ typedef struct {
   atcommons_enroll_namespace_t *namespaces[];
 } atcommons_enroll_namespace_list_t;
 
+/**
+ * @brief intializes the provided atcommons_enroll_namespace_list_t struc
+ *
+ * @param ns_list pointer to the namespace list struct that needs to be initialized
+ * @return int 0 on success, non-zero int on failure
+ */
+int atcommmons_init_enroll_namespace_list(atcommons_enroll_namespace_list_t *ns_list);
+
 /**
  * @brief serializes enroll_namespace struct to JSON string
  *