diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b95139..cd8dfea 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ class JSONSerializer:
             raise SerializationError(obj)
 
     def loads(self, data: bytes) -> dict:
+        data = data.split(NULL_BYTE, 1)[0]
         try:
-            data = data.split(NULL_BYTE, 1)[0]
             return json.loads(data)
         except json.JSONDecodeError:
             raise DeserializationError(data)
diff --git a/shared_memory_dict/serializers.py b/shared_memory_dict/serializers.py
index 9ffe643..1228bb8 100644
--- a/shared_memory_dict/serializers.py
+++ b/shared_memory_dict/serializers.py
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ def dumps(self, obj: dict) -> bytes:
             raise SerializationError(obj)
 
     def loads(self, data: bytes) -> dict:
+        data = data.split(NULL_BYTE, 1)[0]
         try:
-            data = data.split(NULL_BYTE, 1)[0]
             return json.loads(data)
         except json.JSONDecodeError:
             raise DeserializationError(data)