diff --git a/src/basic/escape.c b/src/basic/escape.c
index 6095ac43b5..9e75c51dfc 100644
--- a/src/basic/escape.c
+++ b/src/basic/escape.c
@@ -355,6 +355,7 @@ ssize_t cunescape_length_with_prefix(const char *s, size_t length, const char *p
 
         *t = 0;
 
+        assert(t >= ans); /* Let static analyzers know that the answer is non-negative. */
         *ret = TAKE_PTR(ans);
         return t - *ret;
 }
diff --git a/src/core/load-fragment.c b/src/core/load-fragment.c
index a3ac73f823..6eefaaf27d 100644
--- a/src/core/load-fragment.c
+++ b/src/core/load-fragment.c
@@ -4513,7 +4513,7 @@ int config_parse_set_credential(
                         return 0;
                 }
         } else {
-                char *unescaped = NULL;
+                char *unescaped;
                 ssize_t l;
 
                 /* We support escape codes here, so that users can insert trailing \n if they like */