diff --git a/internal/log/nonblocking_writer.go b/internal/log/nonblocking_writer.go
index aa3fc633..50717ac8 100644
--- a/internal/log/nonblocking_writer.go
+++ b/internal/log/nonblocking_writer.go
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ func newNonBlockingWriter(writer io.Writer, queueSize int) *nonBlockingWriter {
 }
 
 func (w *nonBlockingWriter) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
-	msg := bytes.Clone(p)
-
 	w.mu.RLock()
 	defer w.mu.RUnlock()
 
@@ -63,6 +61,8 @@ func (w *nonBlockingWriter) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
 		return 0, io.ErrClosedPipe
 	}
 
+	msg := bytes.Clone(p)
+
 	select {
 	case w.queue <- msg:
 	default:
diff --git a/internal/log/nonblocking_writer_test.go b/internal/log/nonblocking_writer_test.go
index 83d951db..eebe3da1 100644
--- a/internal/log/nonblocking_writer_test.go
+++ b/internal/log/nonblocking_writer_test.go
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ func TestNonBlockingWriterDropsInsteadOfBlocking(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Len(t, writes, 2)
 	require.Equal(t, []byte("first"), writes[0])
 	require.Equal(t, []byte("second"), writes[1])
-	require.NotEqual(t, []byte("third"), writes[0])
-	require.NotEqual(t, []byte("third"), writes[1])
+
+	for _, write := range writes {
+		require.NotEqual(t, []byte("third"), write)
+	}
 }