Index: gcc/fortran/trans-decl.c
===================================================================
*** gcc/fortran/trans-decl.c	(revision 265231)
--- gcc/fortran/trans-decl.c	(working copy)
*************** gfc_get_symbol_decl (gfc_symbol * sym)
*** 1762,1768 ****
        gfc_finish_var_decl (length, sym);
        if (!sym->attr.associate_var
  	  && TREE_CODE (length) == VAR_DECL
! 	  && sym->value && sym->value->ts.u.cl->length)
  	{
  	  gfc_expr *len = sym->value->ts.u.cl->length;
  	  DECL_INITIAL (length) = gfc_conv_initializer (len, &len->ts,
--- 1762,1769 ----
        gfc_finish_var_decl (length, sym);
        if (!sym->attr.associate_var
  	  && TREE_CODE (length) == VAR_DECL
! 	  && sym->value && sym->value->expr_type != EXPR_NULL
! 	  && sym->value->ts.u.cl->length)
  	{
  	  gfc_expr *len = sym->value->ts.u.cl->length;
  	  DECL_INITIAL (length) = gfc_conv_initializer (len, &len->ts,
*************** gfc_get_symbol_decl (gfc_symbol * sym)
*** 1772,1778 ****
  						DECL_INITIAL (length));
  	}
        else
! 	gcc_assert (!sym->value);
      }
  
    gfc_finish_var_decl (decl, sym);
--- 1773,1779 ----
  						DECL_INITIAL (length));
  	}
        else
! 	gcc_assert (!sym->value || sym->value->expr_type == EXPR_NULL);
      }
  
    gfc_finish_var_decl (decl, sym);
Index: gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_30.f90
===================================================================
*** gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_30.f90	(nonexistent)
--- gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_30.f90	(working copy)
***************
*** 0 ****
--- 1,9 ----
+ ! { dg-do compile }
+ !
+ ! Fix a regression introduced by the patch for PR70149.
+ !
+     character (:), pointer :: ptr => NULL() ! The NULL () caused an ICE.
+     character (6), target :: tgt = 'lmnopq'
+     ptr => tgt
+     print *, len (ptr), ptr
+ end