diff --git a/gateway/annotations/rewrite/rewrite.go b/gateway/annotations/rewrite/rewrite.go
index 5b8673f2b..84cca041c 100644
--- a/gateway/annotations/rewrite/rewrite.go
+++ b/gateway/annotations/rewrite/rewrite.go
@@ -119,7 +119,8 @@ func convert(in map[string]string) []*Rewrite {
 		}
 		rewrite := m[sli[0]]
 		if rewrite == nil {
-			m[k] = &Rewrite{}
+			rewrite = &Rewrite{}
+			m[sli[0]] = rewrite
 		}
 		switch sli[1] {
 		case "regex":