diff --git a/src/defrag.c b/src/defrag.c
index 0e017c677b..a221aa9def 100644
--- a/src/defrag.c
+++ b/src/defrag.c
@@ -1169,6 +1169,7 @@ DefragGetTracker(ThreadVars *tv, DecodeThreadVars *dtv, DefragContext *dc,
             SCMutexLock(&dc->tracker_pool_lock);
             PoolReturn(dc->tracker_pool, tracker);
             SCMutexUnlock(&dc->tracker_pool_lock);
+            tracker = NULL;
             goto done;
         }
     }