diff --git a/src/object.c b/src/object.c
index b9ff0a88b..fb011d311 100644
--- a/src/object.c
+++ b/src/object.c
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ robj *tryObjectEncoding(robj *o) {
                 o->encoding = OBJ_ENCODING_INT;
                 o->ptr = (void*) value;
                 return o;
-            } else {
+            } else if (o->encoding == OBJ_ENCODING_EMBSTR) {
                 decrRefCount(o);
                 return createStringObjectFromLongLongForValue(value);
             }