diff --git a/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp b/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
index 3f2c4ed1..9bee6b46 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/metadata_v2.cpp
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ class metadata_ : public metadata_v2::impl {
       for (auto e : meta_.entries()) {
         auto index = int(e.inode()) - chunk_index_offset_;
         if (index >= 0 && index < int(nlinks.size())) {
-          DWARFS_NOTHROW(++nlinks.at(index));
+          ++DWARFS_NOTHROW(nlinks.at(index));
         }
       }