diff --git a/source3/lib/tldap.c b/source3/lib/tldap.c
index bf5fc05d785..9da0e0c086e 100644
--- a/source3/lib/tldap.c
+++ b/source3/lib/tldap.c
@@ -492,11 +492,6 @@ static void tldap_msg_unset_pending(struct tevent_req *req)
 
 	tevent_req_set_cleanup_fn(req, NULL);
 
-	if (num_pending == 1) {
-		TALLOC_FREE(ld->pending);
-		return;
-	}
-
 	for (i=0; i<num_pending; i++) {
 		if (req == ld->pending[i]) {
 			break;
@@ -511,6 +506,11 @@ static void tldap_msg_unset_pending(struct tevent_req *req)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (num_pending == 1) {
+		TALLOC_FREE(ld->pending);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Remove ourselves from the cli->pending array
 	 */