diff --git a/src/libei.c b/src/libei.c
index 7853bf0..4883035 100644
--- a/src/libei.c
+++ b/src/libei.c
@@ -716,7 +716,6 @@ connection_dispatch(struct source *source, void *userdata)
 {
 	struct ei *ei = userdata;
 	enum ei_state old_state = ei->state;
-	_cleanup_(message_freep) struct message *msg = NULL;
 
 	_cleanup_iobuf_ struct iobuf *buf = iobuf_new(64);
 	int rc = iobuf_append_from_fd(buf, source_get_fd(source));
@@ -738,10 +737,11 @@ connection_dispatch(struct source *source, void *userdata)
 		if (len == 0)
 			break;
 
-		msg = connection_parse_message(data, len, &consumed);
+		_cleanup_(message_freep) struct message *msg =
+			connection_parse_message(data, len, &consumed);
 		if (!msg) {
 			rc = -EBADMSG;
-			goto error;
+			break;
 		}
 
 		log_debug(ei, "Message type %d\n", msg->type);