diff --git a/source4/dsdb/samdb/ldb_modules/partition_metadata.c b/source4/dsdb/samdb/ldb_modules/partition_metadata.c
index 5826ac2ee11..c67d6cf18f8 100644
--- a/source4/dsdb/samdb/ldb_modules/partition_metadata.c
+++ b/source4/dsdb/samdb/ldb_modules/partition_metadata.c
@@ -199,13 +199,13 @@ static int partition_metadata_open(struct ldb_module *module, bool create)
 	}
 
 	sam_name = (const char *)ldb_get_opaque(ldb, "ldb_url");
-	if (strncmp("tdb://", sam_name, 6) == 0) {
-		sam_name += 6;
-	}
 	if (!sam_name) {
 		talloc_free(tmp_ctx);
 		return ldb_operr(ldb);
 	}
+	if (strncmp("tdb://", sam_name, 6) == 0) {
+		sam_name += 6;
+	}
 	filename = talloc_asprintf(tmp_ctx, "%s.d/metadata.tdb", sam_name);
 	if (!filename) {
 		talloc_free(tmp_ctx);