diff --git a/src/detect-engine-tag.c b/src/detect-engine-tag.c
index 8677e3e021..16e11ec70d 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine-tag.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine-tag.c
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ static void TagTimeoutRemove(DetectTagHostCtx *tag_ctx, struct timeval *tv)
             while (tmp != NULL) {
 
                 if ((tv->tv_sec - tmp->last_ts.tv_sec) <= TAG_MAX_LAST_TIME_SEEN) {
+                    prev = tmp;
                     tmp = tmp->next;
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -741,6 +742,7 @@ static void TagTimeoutRemove(DetectTagHostCtx *tag_ctx, struct timeval *tv)
             while (tmp != NULL) {
 
                 if ((tv->tv_sec - tmp->last_ts.tv_sec) <= TAG_MAX_LAST_TIME_SEEN) {
+                    prev = tmp;
                     tmp = tmp->next;
                     continue;
                 }