diff --git a/src/core/qlist.cc b/src/core/qlist.cc
index 4b4825e31092..01fa2e93513a 100644
--- a/src/core/qlist.cc
+++ b/src/core/qlist.cc
@@ -156,9 +156,9 @@ quicklistNode* CreateNode(int container, string_view value) {
 
   if (container == QUICKLIST_NODE_CONTAINER_PLAIN) {
     DCHECK(!value.empty());
+    new_node->sz = value.size();
     new_node->entry = (uint8_t*)zmalloc(new_node->sz);
     memcpy(new_node->entry, value.data(), new_node->sz);
-    new_node->sz = value.size();
   } else {
     new_node->entry = LP_Prepend(lpNew(0), value);
     new_node->sz = lpBytes(new_node->entry);
diff --git a/src/core/qlist_test.cc b/src/core/qlist_test.cc
index da469b0fea40..0b347010311c 100644
--- a/src/core/qlist_test.cc
+++ b/src/core/qlist_test.cc
@@ -236,6 +236,14 @@ TEST_F(QListTest, InsertDelete) {
   EXPECT_EQ(0, ql_.Size());
 }
 
+TEST_F(QListTest, PushPlain) {
+  // push a value large enough to trigger plain node insertion.
+  string val(9000, 'a');
+  ql_.Push(val, QList::HEAD);
+  auto items = ToItems();
+  EXPECT_THAT(items, ElementsAre(val));
+}
+
 using FillCompress = tuple<int, unsigned>;
 
 class PrintToFillCompress {