diff --git a/rbutil/ipodpatcher/ipodio-posix.c b/rbutil/ipodpatcher/ipodio-posix.c
index 881c09b54f..db8648e70e 100644
--- a/rbutil/ipodpatcher/ipodio-posix.c
+++ b/rbutil/ipodpatcher/ipodio-posix.c
@@ -167,13 +167,12 @@ int ipod_scsi_inquiry(struct ipod_t* ipod, int page_code,
     /* set value to match. In case of the Ipod this is "iPodUserClientDevice". */
     CFMutableDictionaryRef sub_dict;
     sub_dict = CFDictionaryCreateMutable(kCFAllocatorDefault, 0, NULL, NULL);
+    if(sub_dict == NULL)
+        return -1;
     CFDictionarySetValue(sub_dict, CFSTR(kIOPropertySCSITaskDeviceCategory),
                          CFSTR("iPodUserClientDevice"));
     CFDictionarySetValue(match_dict, CFSTR(kIOPropertyMatchKey), sub_dict);
 
-    if(sub_dict == NULL)
-        return -1;
-
     /* get an iterator for searching for the service. */
     kern_return_t kr;
     io_iterator_t iterator = IO_OBJECT_NULL;