diff --git a/include/types/dict.h b/include/types/dict.h
index 9e4f41a68..006e91524 100644
--- a/include/types/dict.h
+++ b/include/types/dict.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 struct dict_entry {
 	struct ebpt_node value;
 	unsigned int refcount;
+	size_t len;
 };
 
 struct dict {
diff --git a/src/dict.c b/src/dict.c
index 777530a20..c2580e179 100644
--- a/src/dict.c
+++ b/src/dict.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ static struct dict_entry *new_dict_entry(char *s)
 	if (!de->value.key)
 		goto err;
 
+	de->len = strlen(s);
 	de->refcount = 1;
 
 	return de;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ static struct dict_entry *new_dict_entry(char *s)
  err:
 	free(de->value.key);
 	de->value.key = NULL;
+	de->len = 0;
 	free(de);
 	return NULL;
 }