diff --git a/builtin/diff-files.c b/builtin/diff-files.c
index 2bfaf9ba7a..92cf6e1e92 100644
--- a/builtin/diff-files.c
+++ b/builtin/diff-files.c
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ int cmd_diff_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		result = -1;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
-cleanup:
 	result = run_diff_files(&rev, options);
 	result = diff_result_code(&rev.diffopt, result);
+cleanup:
 	release_revisions(&rev);
 	return result;
 }