diff --git a/examples/rest-example/coap-client-example.c b/examples/rest-example/coap-client-example.c
index 946f3fcad..b88b0ca2a 100644
--- a/examples/rest-example/coap-client-example.c
+++ b/examples/rest-example/coap-client-example.c
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ handle_incoming_data()
   if (init_buffer(COAP_DATA_BUFF_SIZE)) {
     if (uip_newdata()) {
       coap_packet_t* response = (coap_packet_t*)allocate_buffer(sizeof(coap_packet_t));
-      parse_message(response, uip_appdata, uip_datalen());
       if (response) {
+        parse_message(response, uip_appdata, uip_datalen());
         response_handler(response);
       }
     }