diff --git a/src/flb_utils.c b/src/flb_utils.c
index 3761ad2cadc..7c287de05e4 100644
--- a/src/flb_utils.c
+++ b/src/flb_utils.c
@@ -1415,12 +1415,13 @@ int flb_utils_get_machine_id(char **out_id, size_t *out_size)
 
     if (status == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
         *out_id = flb_calloc(1, dwBufSize+1);
-        memcpy(*out_id, buf, dwBufSize);
 
         if (*out_id == NULL) {
             return -1;
         }
 
+        memcpy(*out_id, buf, dwBufSize);
+
         /* RegQueryValueEx sets dwBufSize to strlen()+1 for the NULL 
          * terminator, but we only need strlen(). */
         *out_size = dwBufSize-1;