From a0d61dc2c7439bdea7e1a9920713b1134367be58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Marc Brooks <IDisposable@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:51:46 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] fix: return dict to Event pool (#749)

Return dict to event pool in Array.Dict()
---
 README.md | 2 +-
 array.go  | 1 +
 event.go  | 7 +++----
 3 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6659e2d..f7caa1c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -827,4 +827,4 @@ references to them from within any `MarshalZerologArray(a *Array)` callback (e.g
 own code as they will be cleared and returned to the pool after being buffered by a call to `Context.Array()` or `Event.Array()`.
 
 Any _dictionary_ `Event` returned from `Context.CreateDict()` or `Event.CreateDict()` **must not** be referenced after being
-buffered by a call to `Context.Dict()` or `Event.Dict()` as they will be cleared and returned to the pool.
+buffered by a call to `Array.Dict()`, `Context.Dict()`, or `Event.Dict()` as they will be cleared and returned to the pool.
diff --git a/array.go b/array.go
index a75a572..dbb0bda 100644
--- a/array.go
+++ b/array.go
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ func (a *Array) MACAddr(ha net.HardwareAddr) *Array {
 func (a *Array) Dict(dict *Event) *Array {
 	dict.buf = enc.AppendEndMarker(dict.buf)
 	a.buf = append(enc.AppendArrayDelim(a.buf), dict.buf...)
+	putEvent(dict)
 	return a
 }
 
diff --git a/event.go b/event.go
index 0e05347..82d771f 100644
--- a/event.go
+++ b/event.go
@@ -180,11 +180,10 @@ func (e *Event) Fields(fields interface{}) *Event {
 // Dict adds the field key with a dict to the event context.
 // Use e.CreateDict() to create the dictionary.
 func (e *Event) Dict(key string, dict *Event) *Event {
-	if e == nil {
-		return e
+	if e != nil {
+		dict.buf = enc.AppendEndMarker(dict.buf)
+		e.buf = append(enc.AppendKey(e.buf, key), dict.buf...)
 	}
-	dict.buf = enc.AppendEndMarker(dict.buf)
-	e.buf = append(enc.AppendKey(e.buf, key), dict.buf...)
 	putEvent(dict)
 	return e
 }