diff --git a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
index 34784999bd..3941618db9 100644
--- a/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
+++ b/src/firstboot/firstboot.c
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ static int process_hostname(int rfd, sd_varlink **mute_console_link) {
         }
 
         if (vl) {
-                _cleanup_(sd_json_variant_unrefp) sd_json_variant *reply = NULL;
+                sd_json_variant *reply = NULL;
                 const char *error_id = NULL;
                 r = sd_varlink_callbo(
                                 vl,