diff --git a/database.cc b/database.cc
index abae5820..59e83736 100644
--- a/database.cc
+++ b/database.cc
@@ -577,7 +577,6 @@ notmuch_database_add_message (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 
 		free (id);
 	    }
-	    g_ptr_array_free (thread_ids, TRUE);
 	    doc.add_value (NOTMUCH_VALUE_THREAD, thread_id->str);
 	    g_string_free (thread_id, TRUE);
 	} else if (message_id) {
@@ -589,6 +588,8 @@ notmuch_database_add_message (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 	    doc.add_value (NOTMUCH_VALUE_THREAD, thread_id.str);
 	}
 
+	g_ptr_array_free (thread_ids, TRUE);
+
 	free (message_id);
 
 	date = notmuch_message_get_header (message, "date");