diff --git a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/bytes/util/StringInternerBytes.java b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/bytes/util/StringInternerBytes.java
index 16569e3e12f..81b94af2b82 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/bytes/util/StringInternerBytes.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/openhft/chronicle/bytes/util/StringInternerBytes.java
@@ -73,8 +73,9 @@ public String intern(@NotNull final Bytes bytes, int length)
 
             char[] chars = toCharArray(bytes, position, length);
             final int toPlace = s == null || (s2 != null && toggle()) ? h : h2;
-            interner[toPlace] = StringUtils.newString(chars);
-            return interner[toPlace];
+            String result = StringUtils.newString(chars);
+            interner[toPlace] = result;
+            return result;
         } finally {
             bytes.readSkip(length);
         }