diff --git a/src/network/networkd-link.c b/src/network/networkd-link.c
index aa82576c17..6de0d7003a 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-link.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-link.c
@@ -449,11 +449,7 @@ static int link_new(Manager *manager, sd_netlink_message *message, Link **ret) {
         if (asprintf(&link->lldp_file, "/run/systemd/netif/lldp/%d", link->ifindex) < 0)
                 return -ENOMEM;
 
-        r = hashmap_ensure_allocated(&manager->links, NULL);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return r;
-
-        r = hashmap_put(manager->links, INT_TO_PTR(link->ifindex), link);
+        r = hashmap_ensure_put(&manager->links, NULL, INT_TO_PTR(link->ifindex), link);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;