diff --git a/src/util/vircgroup.c b/src/util/vircgroup.c
index 15071d8b1b..9fb1b45a8f 100644
--- a/src/util/vircgroup.c
+++ b/src/util/vircgroup.c
@@ -1159,6 +1159,7 @@ virCgroupEnableMissingControllers(char *path,
         if (virCgroupMakeGroup(parent, tmp, true, VIR_CGROUP_SYSTEMD) < 0)
             return -1;
 
+        virCgroupFree(parent);
         parent = g_steal_pointer(&tmp);
     }