diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c b/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
index 16536de4..9d818e35 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
@@ -197,13 +197,15 @@ static gboolean hilight_match_text(HILIGHT_REC *rec, SERVER_REC *server, const c
 				  int *match_beg, int *match_end)
 {
 	gboolean ret = FALSE;
-	WI_ITEM_REC *witem = window_item_find(server, channel);
+	WI_ITEM_REC *witem;
+	char *pattern;
 
 	if (rec->regexp && rec->preg == NULL)
 		return ret;
 
-	char *pattern = rec->expando ? (parse_special_string(rec->regexp ? g_regex_get_pattern(rec->preg) : rec->text, server, witem, "", NULL, 0)) :
-					rec->text;
+	witem = window_item_find(server, channel);
+	pattern = rec->expando ? (parse_special_string(rec->regexp ? g_regex_get_pattern(rec->preg) : rec->text, server, witem, "", NULL, 0)) :
+				 rec->text;
 
 	if (pattern == NULL || strlen(pattern) == 0)
 		return ret;