diff --git a/src/rtos/hwthread.c b/src/rtos/hwthread.c
index bdd5835c2..e5eaf425f 100644
--- a/src/rtos/hwthread.c
+++ b/src/rtos/hwthread.c
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ static int hwthread_fill_thread(struct rtos *rtos, struct target *curr, int thre
 static int hwthread_update_threads(struct rtos *rtos)
 {
 	int threads_found = 0;
+	int thread_list_size = 0;
 	struct target_list *head;
 	struct target *target;
 	int64_t current_thread = 0;
@@ -99,13 +100,13 @@ static int hwthread_update_threads(struct rtos *rtos)
 			if (!target_was_examined(curr))
 				continue;
 
-			++threads_found;
+			++thread_list_size;
 		}
 	} else
-		threads_found = 1;
+		thread_list_size = 1;
 
 	/* create space for new thread details */
-	rtos->thread_details = malloc(sizeof(struct thread_detail) * threads_found);
+	rtos->thread_details = malloc(sizeof(struct thread_detail) * thread_list_size);
 
 	if (target->smp) {
 		/* loop over all threads */
@@ -170,10 +171,13 @@ static int hwthread_update_threads(struct rtos *rtos)
 			default:
 				break;
 			}
+
+			threads_found++;
 		}
 	} else {
 		hwthread_fill_thread(rtos, target, threads_found);
 		current_thread = threadid_from_target(target);
+		threads_found++;
 	}
 
 	rtos->thread_count = threads_found;