diff --git a/src/core/thread/mesh_forwarder.cpp b/src/core/thread/mesh_forwarder.cpp
index f5b1afe56..2452c94f9 100644
--- a/src/core/thread/mesh_forwarder.cpp
+++ b/src/core/thread/mesh_forwarder.cpp
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ Message *MeshForwarder::PrepareNextDirectTransmission(void)
 #endif
             LogMessage(kMessageDrop, *curMessage, error);
             FinalizeMessageDirectTx(*curMessage, error);
-            mSendQueue.DequeueAndFree(*curMessage);
+            RemoveMessageIfNoPendingTx(*curMessage);
             continue;
         }
     }