diff --git a/bench/julia.cc b/bench/julia.cc
index 95832e86d8434391825eb96749fec862100e146e..2102a155ebead8c09db4099b4489ae7de9608aeb 100644
--- a/bench/julia.cc
+++ b/bench/julia.cc
@@ -102,8 +102,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     size_t nx = 1024, ny = 1024, max_iter = 500;
     double cr = -0.123, ci = 0.754;
 
-    unsigned char *image = new unsigned char[nx*ny];
-
     if (argc > 1) {
         if (argc != 3) {
            fprintf(stderr, "%s: incorrect number of parameters\n\n"
@@ -116,6 +114,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         }
     }
 
+    unsigned char *image = new unsigned char[nx*ny];
+
     /* single precision */
 
     bench_julia<float>(xmin, xmax, nx, ymin, ymax, ny,