diff --git a/src/journal-remote/journal-remote-write.c b/src/journal-remote/journal-remote-write.c
index 54ed1e23a0..2d8188ec62 100644
--- a/src/journal-remote/journal-remote-write.c
+++ b/src/journal-remote/journal-remote-write.c
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ int writer_new(RemoteServer *server, Writer **ret) {
         if (!w)
                 return -ENOMEM;
 
+        w->n_ref = 1;
         w->metrics = server->metrics;
 
         w->mmap = mmap_cache_new();
         if (!w->mmap)
                 return -ENOMEM;
 
-        w->n_ref = 1;
         w->server = server;
 
         if (is_dir(server->output, /* follow = */ true) > 0) {