diff --git a/http-backend.c b/http-backend.c
index 67819d931c..8ab58e55f8 100644
--- a/http-backend.c
+++ b/http-backend.c
@@ -759,10 +759,14 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		struct service_cmd *c = &services[i];
 		regex_t re;
 		regmatch_t out[1];
+		int ret;
 
 		if (regcomp(&re, c->pattern, REG_EXTENDED))
 			die("Bogus regex in service table: %s", c->pattern);
-		if (!regexec(&re, dir, 1, out, 0)) {
+		ret = regexec(&re, dir, 1, out, 0);
+		regfree(&re);
+
+		if (!ret) {
 			size_t n;
 
 			if (strcmp(method, c->method))
@@ -774,7 +778,6 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 			dir[out[0].rm_so] = 0;
 			break;
 		}
-		regfree(&re);
 	}
 
 	if (!cmd)