diff --git a/kenwood/kenwood.c b/kenwood/kenwood.c
index d2b7c70e8..ef0eda572 100644
--- a/kenwood/kenwood.c
+++ b/kenwood/kenwood.c
@@ -251,8 +251,6 @@ transaction_write:
 			goto transaction_write;
 		goto transaction_quit;
 	}
-	else
-		*datasize = retval;
 
 	/* Check that command termination is correct */
 	if (strchr(cmdtrm, data[strlen(data)-1])==NULL) {
@@ -294,6 +292,11 @@ transaction_write:
 	}
 	}
 
+	*datasize = retval;	/* this is retval from successful
+				   read_string above, don't assign
+				   until here because IN value is
+				   needed for retries */
+
 	/* always give back a null terminated string without
 	 * the command terminator.
 	 */