diff --git a/src/conf-yaml-loader.c b/src/conf-yaml-loader.c
index 2754b15567..6785d5b4ef 100644
--- a/src/conf-yaml-loader.c
+++ b/src/conf-yaml-loader.c
@@ -560,11 +560,6 @@ ConfYamlLoadFileWithPrefix(const char *filename, const char *prefix)
     int ret;
     ConfNode *root = ConfGetNode(prefix);
 
-    if (yaml_parser_initialize(&parser) != 1) {
-        SCLogError("failed to initialize yaml parser.");
-        return -1;
-    }
-
     struct stat stat_buf;
     /* coverity[toctou] */
     if (stat(filename, &stat_buf) == 0) {
@@ -576,6 +571,11 @@ ConfYamlLoadFileWithPrefix(const char *filename, const char *prefix)
         }
     }
 
+    if (yaml_parser_initialize(&parser) != 1) {
+        SCLogError("failed to initialize yaml parser.");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     /* coverity[toctou] */
     infile = fopen(filename, "r");
     if (infile == NULL) {