diff --git a/src/network/networkd-routing-policy-rule.c b/src/network/networkd-routing-policy-rule.c
index a1e56ec436..faa9f8576c 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-routing-policy-rule.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-routing-policy-rule.c
@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ void routing_policy_rule_free(RoutingPolicyRule *rule) {
         }
 
         if (rule->manager) {
-                set_remove(rule->manager->rules, rule);
-                set_remove(rule->manager->rules_foreign, rule);
+                if (set_get(rule->manager->rules, rule) == rule)
+                        set_remove(rule->manager->rules, rule);
+                if (set_get(rule->manager->rules_foreign, rule) == rule)
+                        set_remove(rule->manager->rules_foreign, rule);
         }
 
         network_config_section_free(rule->section);