diff --git a/src/http/modules/ngx_http_limit_req_module.c b/src/http/modules/ngx_http_limit_req_module.c
index 8778a160a..63fd9d0da 100644
--- a/src/http/modules/ngx_http_limit_req_module.c
+++ b/src/http/modules/ngx_http_limit_req_module.c
@@ -182,8 +182,6 @@ ngx_http_limit_req_handler(ngx_http_request_t *r)
 
     ngx_shmtx_lock(&ctx->shpool->mutex);
 
-    ngx_http_limit_req_expire(ctx, 1);
-
     rc = ngx_http_limit_req_lookup(lrcf, hash, vv->data, len, &excess);
 
     ngx_shmtx_unlock(&ctx->shpool->mutex);
@@ -385,6 +383,8 @@ ngx_http_limit_req_lookup(ngx_http_limit_req_conf_t *lrcf, ngx_uint_t hash,
            + offsetof(ngx_http_limit_req_node_t, data)
            + len;
 
+    ngx_http_limit_req_expire(ctx, 1);
+
     node = ngx_slab_alloc_locked(ctx->shpool, size);
 
     if (node == NULL) {