diff --git a/dlls/mstask/task_scheduler.c b/dlls/mstask/task_scheduler.c
index 7998b3a50e6..ebf25d08e80 100644
--- a/dlls/mstask/task_scheduler.c
+++ b/dlls/mstask/task_scheduler.c
@@ -143,10 +143,6 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI EnumWorkItems_Next(IEnumWorkItems *iface, ULONG count, LPW
     enumerated = 0;
     list = NULL;
 
-    allocated = 64;
-    list = CoTaskMemAlloc(allocated * sizeof(list[0]));
-    if (!list) return E_OUTOFMEMORY;
-
     if (This->handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
     {
         GetWindowsDirectoryW(path, MAX_PATH);
@@ -161,6 +157,10 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI EnumWorkItems_Next(IEnumWorkItems *iface, ULONG count, LPW
             return S_FALSE;
     }
 
+    allocated = 64;
+    list = CoTaskMemAlloc(allocated * sizeof(list[0]));
+    if (!list) return E_OUTOFMEMORY;
+
     do
     {
         if (is_file(&data))