diff --git a/contrib/plugins/hotblocks.c b/contrib/plugins/hotblocks.c
index d3dd23ed9f..cf4d6b8c36 100644
--- a/contrib/plugins/hotblocks.c
+++ b/contrib/plugins/hotblocks.c
@@ -82,10 +82,9 @@ static void plugin_exit(qemu_plugin_id_t id, void *p)
     sorted_counts = g_list_sort_with_data(counts, cmp_exec_count, NULL);
 
     if (sorted_counts) {
-        it = sorted_counts;
         g_string_append_printf(report, "pc, tcount, icount, ecount\n");
 
-        for (i = 0; i < limit && it->next; i++, it = it->next) {
+        for (i = 0, it = sorted_counts; i < limit && it; i++, it = it->next) {
             ExecCount *rec = (ExecCount *) it->data;
             g_string_append_printf(
                 report, "0x%016"PRIx64", %d, %ld, %"PRId64"\n",