diff --git a/src/libeis-client.c b/src/libeis-client.c
index 5e2e190..0902706 100644
--- a/src/libeis-client.c
+++ b/src/libeis-client.c
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ client_dispatch(struct source *source, void *data)
 {
 	struct eis_client *client = data;
 	enum eis_client_state old_state = client->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));
@@ -405,8 +406,7 @@ client_dispatch(struct source *source, void *data)
 	else if (rc < 0)
 		goto error;
 
-	_cleanup_(message_freep) struct message *msg =
-		client_parse_message(iobuf_data(buf), iobuf_len(buf));
+	msg = client_parse_message(iobuf_data(buf), iobuf_len(buf));
 	if (!msg) {
 		rc = -EBADMSG;
 		goto error;