diff --git a/src/basic/env-file.c b/src/basic/env-file.c
index 7b3e209ddc..58d7b3ec35 100644
--- a/src/basic/env-file.c
+++ b/src/basic/env-file.c
@@ -330,8 +330,7 @@ static int parse_env_file_push(
 
                 if (streq(key, k)) {
                         va_end(aq);
-                        free(*v);
-                        *v = value;
+                        free_and_replace(*v, value);
 
                         return 1;
                 }