diff --git a/src/core/scope.c b/src/core/scope.c
index 9434d03cdc3..654702ca3be 100644
--- a/src/core/scope.c
+++ b/src/core/scope.c
@@ -496,11 +496,7 @@ static int scope_deserialize_item(Unit *u, const char *key, const char *value, F
                 if (parse_pid(value, &pid) < 0)
                         log_unit_debug(u, "Failed to parse pids value: %s", value);
                 else {
-                        r = set_ensure_allocated(&u->pids, NULL);
-                        if (r < 0)
-                                return r;
-
-                        r = set_put(u->pids, PID_TO_PTR(pid));
+                        r = set_ensure_put(&u->pids, NULL, PID_TO_PTR(pid));
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return r;
                 }