diff --git a/src/pulsecore/fdsem.c b/src/pulsecore/fdsem.c
index ec3246169..b153dddd7 100644
--- a/src/pulsecore/fdsem.c
+++ b/src/pulsecore/fdsem.c
@@ -100,11 +100,10 @@ pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_open_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data, int event_fd) {
     return f;
 }
 
-pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_new_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data, int* event_fd) {
+pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_new_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data) {
     pa_fdsem *f = NULL;
 
     pa_assert(data);
-    pa_assert(event_fd);
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SYS_EVENTFD_H
 
diff --git a/src/pulsecore/fdsem.h b/src/pulsecore/fdsem.h
index a434ac3be..3f1d9a1a4 100644
--- a/src/pulsecore/fdsem.h
+++ b/src/pulsecore/fdsem.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ typedef struct pa_fdsem_data {
 
 pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_new(void);
 pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_open_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data, int event_fd);
-pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_new_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data, int* event_fd);
+pa_fdsem *pa_fdsem_new_shm(pa_fdsem_data *data);
 void pa_fdsem_free(pa_fdsem *f);
 
 void pa_fdsem_post(pa_fdsem *f);
diff --git a/src/pulsecore/shmasyncq.c b/src/pulsecore/shmasyncq.c
index e6599a995..8d3c44719 100644
--- a/src/pulsecore/shmasyncq.c
+++ b/src/pulsecore/shmasyncq.c
@@ -86,10 +86,11 @@ pa_shmasyncq *pa_shmasyncq_new(unsigned n_elements, size_t element_size, void *d
     l->data->n_elements = n_elements;
     l->data->element_size = element_size;
 
-    if (!(l->read_fdsem = pa_fdsem_new_shm(&d->read_fdsem_data, &fd[0]))) {
+    if (!(l->read_fdsem = pa_fdsem_new_shm(&d->read_fdsem_data))) {
         pa_xfree(l);
         return NULL;
     }
+    fd[0] = pa_fdsem_get(l->read_fdsem);
 
     if (!(l->write_fdsem = pa_fdsem_new(&d->write_fdsem_data, &fd[1]))) {
         pa_fdsem_free(l->read_fdsem);