diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/catalog.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/catalog.c
index 7527abf636cb9..78f7f226c8932 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/catalog.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/catalog.c
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ static int finish_item(
                 char *payload, size_t payload_size) {
 
         _cleanup_free_ CatalogItem *i = NULL;
-        _cleanup_free_ char *prev = NULL, *combined = NULL;
+        _cleanup_free_ char *combined = NULL;
+        char *prev;
 
         assert(h);
         assert(payload);
@@ -171,6 +172,7 @@ static int finish_item(
                 if (ordered_hashmap_update(h, i, combined) < 0)
                         return log_oom();
                 combined = NULL;
+                free(prev);
         } else {
                 /* A new item */
                 combined = memdup(payload, payload_size + 1);