diff --git a/lib/hostip.c b/lib/hostip.c
index 5837e64c7..61d238acd 100644
--- a/lib/hostip.c
+++ b/lib/hostip.c
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ hostcache_timestamp_remove(void *datap, void *hc)
     (struct hostcache_prune_data *) datap;
   struct Curl_dns_entry *c = (struct Curl_dns_entry *) hc;
 
-  return (data->now - c->timestamp >= data->cache_timeout);
+  return !c->inuse && (data->now - c->timestamp >= data->cache_timeout);
 }
 
 /*