diff --git a/src/core/device.c b/src/core/device.c
index 8ba55625cd..b8ae730ac6 100644
--- a/src/core/device.c
+++ b/src/core/device.c
@@ -658,10 +658,7 @@ static void device_shutdown(Manager *m) {
         assert(m);
 
         m->udev_event_source = sd_event_source_unref(m->udev_event_source);
-
-        if (m->udev_monitor)
-                m->udev_monitor = udev_monitor_unref(m->udev_monitor);
-
+        m->udev_monitor = udev_monitor_unref(m->udev_monitor);
         m->devices_by_sysfs = hashmap_free(m->devices_by_sysfs);
 }