diff --git a/ctdb/server/ipalloc.c b/ctdb/server/ipalloc.c
index e416c743c2d..7fd422a765a 100644
--- a/ctdb/server/ipalloc.c
+++ b/ctdb/server/ipalloc.c
@@ -231,9 +231,7 @@ bool ipalloc_set_public_ips(struct ipalloc_state *ipalloc_state,
 	ipalloc_state->available_public_ips = available_ips;
 	ipalloc_state->known_public_ips = known_ips;
 
-	ipalloc_state->all_ips = create_merged_ip_list(ipalloc_state);
-
-	return (ipalloc_state->all_ips != NULL);
+	return true;
 }
 
 /* This can only return false if there are no available IPs *and*
@@ -282,6 +280,11 @@ struct public_ip_list *ipalloc(struct ipalloc_state *ipalloc_state)
 {
 	bool ret = false;
 
+	ipalloc_state->all_ips = create_merged_ip_list(ipalloc_state);
+	if (ipalloc_state->all_ips == NULL) {
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	switch (ipalloc_state->algorithm) {
 	case IPALLOC_LCP2:
 		ret = ipalloc_lcp2(ipalloc_state);