diff --git a/disk_index_file.c b/disk_index_file.c
index 9f49606ca89..00ec7570ef8 100644
--- a/disk_index_file.c
+++ b/disk_index_file.c
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ static bool DCifJSONStringHandler(void* context, const char *pValue, size_t leng
 
    if (pCtx->current_entry_str_val && length && !string_is_empty(pValue))
    {
-      if (*pCtx->current_entry_str_val)
-         free(*pCtx->current_entry_str_val);
+      free(*pCtx->current_entry_str_val);
 
       *pCtx->current_entry_str_val = strdup(pValue);
    }