diff --git a/win32/registry.c b/win32/registry.c
index c2f4666587e..c9a324b628d 100644
--- a/win32/registry.c
+++ b/win32/registry.c
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ char *GetIniPathFromRegistry()
 	HKEY hKey;
 	
 	if(RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, PHP_REGISTRY_KEY, 0, KEY_READ, &hKey) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-		reg_location = emalloc(MAXPATHLEN+1);
 		DWORD buflen = MAXPATHLEN;
+		reg_location = emalloc(MAXPATHLEN+1);
 		if(RegQueryValueEx(hKey, PHPRC_REGISTRY_NAME, 0, NULL, reg_location, &buflen) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
 			efree(reg_location);
 			reg_location = NULL;