diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
index 2ca7ee6..597990c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
@@ -179,13 +179,13 @@ class Partition(val topic: String,
       // record the epoch of the controller that made the leadership decision. This is useful while updating the isr
       // to maintain the decision maker controller's epoch in the zookeeper path
       controllerEpoch = leaderIsrAndControllerEpoch.controllerEpoch
+      // make sure local replica exists
+      val localReplica = getOrCreateReplica()
       val newLeaderBrokerId: Int = leaderAndIsr.leader
       liveBrokers.find(_.id == newLeaderBrokerId) match {
         case Some(leaderBroker) =>
           // stop fetcher thread to previous leader
           replicaFetcherManager.removeFetcher(topic, partitionId)
-          // make sure local replica exists
-          val localReplica = getOrCreateReplica()
           localReplica.log.get.truncateTo(localReplica.highWatermark)
           inSyncReplicas = Set.empty[Replica]
           leaderEpoch = leaderAndIsr.leaderEpoch