diff --git a/gst/gstvalue.c b/gst/gstvalue.c
index 05b76efffc..452cc17570 100644
--- a/gst/gstvalue.c
+++ b/gst/gstvalue.c
@@ -723,17 +723,18 @@ gst_value_deserialize_fourcc (GValue * dest, const char *s)
   gboolean ret = FALSE;
   guint32 fourcc = 0;
   char *end;
+  gint l = strlen (s);
 
-  if (strlen (s) == 4) {
+  if (l == 4) {
     fourcc = GST_MAKE_FOURCC (s[0], s[1], s[2], s[3]);
     ret = TRUE;
-  } else if (strlen (s) == 3) {
+  } else if (l == 3) {
     fourcc = GST_MAKE_FOURCC (s[0], s[1], s[2], ' ');
     ret = TRUE;
-  } else if (strlen (s) == 2) {
+  } else if (l == 2) {
     fourcc = GST_MAKE_FOURCC (s[0], s[1], ' ', ' ');
     ret = TRUE;
-  } else if (strlen (s) == 1) {
+  } else if (l == 1) {
     fourcc = GST_MAKE_FOURCC (s[0], ' ', ' ', ' ');
     ret = TRUE;
   } else if (g_ascii_isdigit (*s)) {