diff --git a/src/shared/varlink.c b/src/shared/varlink.c
index 8a5a9907a8..fa51b84cd4 100644
--- a/src/shared/varlink.c
+++ b/src/shared/varlink.c
@@ -2397,7 +2397,7 @@ int varlink_collect_full(
                                 if (ret_parameters)
                                         *ret_parameters = p;
                                 if (ret_error_id)
-                                        *ret_error_id = e ? json_variant_string(e) : NULL;
+                                        *ret_error_id = json_variant_string(e);
                                 if (ret_flags)
                                         *ret_flags = v->current_reply_flags;