diff --git a/src/shared/bap.c b/src/shared/bap.c
index 427d186..a18f393 100644
--- a/src/shared/bap.c
+++ b/src/shared/bap.c
@@ -3840,11 +3840,11 @@ static void *ltv_merge(struct iovec *data, struct iovec *cont)
 	if (!data)
 		return NULL;
 
+	util_iov_append(data, &delimiter, sizeof(delimiter));
+
 	if (!cont || !cont->iov_len || !cont->iov_base)
 		return data->iov_base;
 
-	util_iov_append(data, &delimiter, sizeof(delimiter));
-
 	return util_iov_append(data, cont->iov_base, cont->iov_len);
 }