diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index 0e517f21a7..d6ef9cd60a 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -6608,6 +6608,7 @@ qemuBuildChrDeviceCommandLine(virCommandPtr cmd,
         return -1;
 
     virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "-device", devstr, NULL);
+    VIR_FREE(devstr);
     return 0;
 }