diff --git a/src/address_parser.c b/src/address_parser.c
index 9cfa17a6..2b7c8811 100644
--- a/src/address_parser.c
+++ b/src/address_parser.c
@@ -1755,8 +1755,6 @@ libpostal_address_parser_response_t *address_parser_parse(char *address, char *l
             label = strdup(ADDRESS_PARSER_LABEL_POSTAL_CODE);
         }
 
-        response = address_parser_response_new();
-
         // Implicit: if most_common is not one of the above, ignore and parse regularly
         if (label != NULL) {
             char **single_label = malloc(sizeof(char *));
@@ -1764,6 +1762,8 @@ libpostal_address_parser_response_t *address_parser_parse(char *address, char *l
             char **single_component = malloc(sizeof(char *));
             single_component[0] = strdup(normalized);
 
+            response = address_parser_response_new();
+
             response->num_components = 1;
             response->labels = single_label;
             response->components = single_component;