diff --git a/src/helper/log.c b/src/helper/log.c
index 0fff674f7..a157b78b1 100644
--- a/src/helper/log.c
+++ b/src/helper/log.c
@@ -153,10 +153,11 @@ void log_printf(enum log_levels level,
 	char *string;
 	va_list ap;
 
-	count++;
 	if (level > debug_level)
 		return;
 
+	count++;
+
 	va_start(ap, format);
 
 	string = alloc_vprintf(format, ap);
@@ -173,11 +174,11 @@ void log_vprintf_lf(enum log_levels level, const char *file, unsigned int line,
 {
 	char *tmp;
 
-	count++;
-
 	if (level > debug_level)
 		return;
 
+	count++;
+
 	tmp = alloc_vprintf(format, args);
 
 	if (!tmp)