diff --git a/source3/libnet/libnet_join.c b/source3/libnet/libnet_join.c
index 76ffe5ed2bb..fb5dfa33c90 100644
--- a/source3/libnet/libnet_join.c
+++ b/source3/libnet/libnet_join.c
@@ -893,12 +893,11 @@ static bool libnet_join_derive_salting_principal(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
 	}
 
 	salt = talloc_strdup(mem_ctx, std_salt);
+	SAFE_FREE(std_salt);
 	if (!salt) {
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	SAFE_FREE(std_salt);
-
 	/* if it's a Windows functional domain, we have to look for the UPN */
 
 	if (domain_func == DS_DOMAIN_FUNCTION_2000) {