diff --git a/src/pipewire/properties.c b/src/pipewire/properties.c
index 9c969252e..46b69d216 100644
--- a/src/pipewire/properties.c
+++ b/src/pipewire/properties.c
@@ -172,10 +172,7 @@ int pw_properties_update_string(struct pw_properties *props, const char *str, si
 			if (spa_json_is_container(value, len))
 				len = spa_json_container_len(&it[1], value, len);
 
-			if ((val = strndup(value, len)) == NULL)
-				return -errno;
-
-			if (spa_json_is_string(value, len))
+			if ((val = malloc(len)) != NULL)
 				spa_json_parse_string(value, len, val);
 		}
 		count += pw_properties_set(&impl->this, key, val);