diff --git a/lib/btree.c b/lib/btree.c
index e5ec1e9c1aa5..5cf9e74ec3f3 100644
--- a/lib/btree.c
+++ b/lib/btree.c
@@ -319,8 +319,8 @@ void *btree_get_prev(struct btree_head *head, struct btree_geo *geo,
 
 	if (head->height == 0)
 		return NULL;
-retry:
 	longcpy(key, __key, geo->keylen);
+retry:
 	dec_key(geo, key);
 
 	node = head->node;
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ void *btree_get_prev(struct btree_head *head, struct btree_geo *geo,
 	}
 miss:
 	if (retry_key) {
-		__key = retry_key;
+		longcpy(key, retry_key, geo->keylen);
 		retry_key = NULL;
 		goto retry;
 	}