diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3bb0543e1..a4430c169 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 - core: fix integer overflow with decimal numbers in calculation of expression
 - core: fix integer overflow in base32 encoding/decoding
+- core: fix memory leak in function util_parse_delay
 
 ## Version 4.6.2 (2025-04-18)
 
diff --git a/src/core/core-util.c b/src/core/core-util.c
index 6a38dd9dc..0d3185b26 100644
--- a/src/core/core-util.c
+++ b/src/core/core-util.c
@@ -571,7 +571,6 @@ util_parse_delay (const char *string_delay, unsigned long long default_factor,
 
     if ((pos > string_delay) && pos[0])
     {
-        str_number = string_strndup (string_delay, pos - string_delay);
         if (strcmp (pos, "us") == 0)
             factor = 1ULL;
         else if (strcmp (pos, "ms") == 0)
@@ -584,6 +583,7 @@ util_parse_delay (const char *string_delay, unsigned long long default_factor,
             factor = 1000ULL * 1000ULL * 60ULL * 60ULL;
         else
             return 0;
+        str_number = string_strndup (string_delay, pos - string_delay);
     }
     else
     {