diff --git a/src/omemo/omemo.c b/src/omemo/omemo.c
index 2a12fe77..f47b1f48 100644
--- a/src/omemo/omemo.c
+++ b/src/omemo/omemo.c
@@ -1141,6 +1141,12 @@ omemo_on_message_recv(const char* const from_jid, uint32_t sid,
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    if (payload == NULL) {
+        signal_buffer_free(plaintext_key);
+        *error = OMEMO_ERR_KEY_TRANSPORT;
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     if (signal_buffer_len(plaintext_key) != AES128_GCM_KEY_LENGTH + AES128_GCM_TAG_LENGTH) {
         log_error("[OMEMO][RECV] invalid key length");
         signal_buffer_free(plaintext_key);
@@ -1148,12 +1154,6 @@ omemo_on_message_recv(const char* const from_jid, uint32_t sid,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (payload == NULL) {
-        signal_buffer_free(plaintext_key);
-        *error = OMEMO_ERR_KEY_TRANSPORT;
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     size_t plaintext_len = payload_len;
     plaintext = malloc(plaintext_len + 1);
     res = aes128gcm_decrypt(plaintext, &plaintext_len, payload, payload_len, iv,