diff --git a/src/flow-util.h b/src/flow-util.h
index be66d65033..bd46ca0dde 100644
--- a/src/flow-util.h
+++ b/src/flow-util.h
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@
         SC_ATOMIC_RESET((f)->use_cnt); \
         if ((f)->de_state != NULL) { \
             DetectEngineStateReset((f)->de_state); \
-            (f)->de_state = NULL; \
         } \
         (f)->sgh_toserver = NULL; \
         (f)->sgh_toclient = NULL; \