diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-socket.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-socket.c
index 5959959f42..9d2b3984c2 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-socket.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-netlink/netlink-socket.c
@@ -181,12 +181,6 @@ static int socket_recv_message(int fd, void *buf, size_t buf_size, uint32_t *ret
                 log_debug("sd-netlink: ignoring message from PID %"PRIu32, sender.nl.nl_pid);
 
                 if (peek) {
-                        _cleanup_free_ uint8_t *b = new(uint8_t, n);
-                        if (!b)
-                                return -ENOMEM;
-
-                        iov = IOVEC_MAKE(b, n);
-
                         /* drop the message */
                         n = recvmsg_safe(fd, &msg, 0);
                         if (n < 0)