diff --git a/src/basic/io-util.c b/src/basic/io-util.c
index 247e37fd80..4d7405296b 100644
--- a/src/basic/io-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/io-util.c
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ int iovw_put(struct iovec_wrapper *iovw, void *data, size_t len) {
                 return -E2BIG;
 
         if (!GREEDY_REALLOC(iovw->iovec, iovw->size_bytes, iovw->count + 1))
-                return log_oom();
+                return -ENOMEM;
 
         iovw->iovec[iovw->count++] = IOVEC_MAKE(data, len);
         return 0;
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ int iovw_put_string_field(struct iovec_wrapper *iovw, const char *field, const c
 
         x = strjoin(field, value);
         if (!x)
-                return log_oom();
+                return -ENOMEM;
 
         r = iovw_put(iovw, x, strlen(x));
         if (r >= 0)