diff --git a/tests/testutilsqemu.c b/tests/testutilsqemu.c
index 0cb9a7456d..4dd5664f7b 100644
--- a/tests/testutilsqemu.c
+++ b/tests/testutilsqemu.c
@@ -288,8 +288,8 @@ qemuTestParseCapabilitiesArch(virArch arch,
                               const char *capsFile)
 {
     virQEMUCapsPtr qemuCaps = NULL;
-    char *binary = g_strdup_printf("/usr/bin/qemu-system-%s",
-                                   virArchToString(arch));
+    g_autofree char *binary = g_strdup_printf("/usr/bin/qemu-system-%s",
+                                              virArchToString(arch));
 
     if (!(qemuCaps = virQEMUCapsNewBinary(binary)) ||
         virQEMUCapsLoadCache(arch, qemuCaps, capsFile) < 0)