diff --git a/src/core/cgroup.c b/src/core/cgroup.c
index 411f59d55d..bc1e601cf1 100644
--- a/src/core/cgroup.c
+++ b/src/core/cgroup.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ int cgroup_context_add_io_device_limit_dup(CGroupContext *c, CGroupIODeviceLimit
         assert(l);
 
         n = new0(CGroupIODeviceLimit, 1);
-        if (!l)
+        if (!n)
                 return -ENOMEM;
 
         n->path = strdup(l->path);