diff --git a/src/machine/image-dbus.c b/src/machine/image-dbus.c
index 4c4f900527a..f74cabd7fb7 100644
--- a/src/machine/image-dbus.c
+++ b/src/machine/image-dbus.c
@@ -390,10 +390,6 @@ static int image_object_find(sd_bus *bus, const char *path, const char *interfac
                 return 1;
         }
 
-        r = hashmap_ensure_allocated(&m->image_cache, &image_hash_ops);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return r;
-
         if (!m->image_cache_defer_event) {
                 r = sd_event_add_defer(m->event, &m->image_cache_defer_event, image_flush_cache, m);
                 if (r < 0)
@@ -416,7 +412,7 @@ static int image_object_find(sd_bus *bus, const char *path, const char *interfac
 
         image->userdata = m;
 
-        r = hashmap_put(m->image_cache, image->name, image);
+        r = hashmap_ensure_put(&m->image_cache, &image_hash_ops, image->name, image);
         if (r < 0) {
                 image_unref(image);
                 return r;