diff --git a/services/audioflinger/Effects.cpp b/services/audioflinger/Effects.cpp
index ee7a6d614b..641f3ecb92 100644
--- a/services/audioflinger/Effects.cpp
+++ b/services/audioflinger/Effects.cpp
@@ -1856,12 +1856,13 @@ status_t AudioFlinger::EffectHandle::command(uint32_t cmdCode,
             }
 
             // copy to local memory in case of client corruption b/32220769
-            param = (effect_param_t *)realloc(param, size);
-            if (param == NULL) {
+            auto *newParam = (effect_param_t *)realloc(param, size);
+            if (newParam == NULL) {
                 ALOGW("command(): out of memory");
                 status = NO_MEMORY;
                 break;
             }
+            param = newParam;
             memcpy(param, p, size);
 
             int reply = 0;