diff --git a/changes/bug31027 b/changes/bug31027
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd3ce20b60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug31027
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+  o Code simplification and refactoring:
+    - Remove some dead code from circpad_machine_remove_token() to fix some
+      Coverity warnings (CID 1447298). Fixes bug 31027; bugfix on 0.4.1.1-alpha.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/core/or/circuitpadding.c b/src/core/or/circuitpadding.c
index 0214cc4219..626787da7b 100644
--- a/src/core/or/circuitpadding.c
+++ b/src/core/or/circuitpadding.c
@@ -1083,8 +1083,11 @@ circpad_machine_remove_token(circpad_machine_runtime_t *mi)
 
   state = circpad_machine_current_state(mi);
 
+  /* If we are not in a padding state (like start or end), we're done */
+  if (!state)
+    return;
   /* Don't remove any tokens if we're not doing token removal */
-  if (!state || state->token_removal == CIRCPAD_TOKEN_REMOVAL_NONE)
+  if (state->token_removal == CIRCPAD_TOKEN_REMOVAL_NONE)
     return;
 
   current_time = monotime_absolute_usec();
@@ -1103,10 +1106,6 @@ circpad_machine_remove_token(circpad_machine_runtime_t *mi)
     timer_disable(mi->padding_timer);
   }
 
-  /* If we are not in a padding state (like start or end), we're done */
-  if (!state)
-    return;
-
   /* Perform the specified token removal strategy */
   switch (state->token_removal) {
     case CIRCPAD_TOKEN_REMOVAL_CLOSEST_USEC: