diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 0880f51115..d9e35be3ef 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -10124,6 +10124,7 @@ qemuDomainSnapshotCreateDiskActive(virConnectPtr conn,
     if (actions) {
         if (ret == 0)
             ret = qemuMonitorTransaction(priv->mon, actions);
+        virJSONValueFree(actions);
         if (ret < 0) {
             /* Transaction failed; undo the changes to vm.  */
             bool need_unlink = !(flags & VIR_DOMAIN_SNAPSHOT_CREATE_REUSE_EXT);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
index 7093e1d6d2..d09d7793ff 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_monitor_json.c
@@ -3157,22 +3157,21 @@ cleanup:
     return ret;
 }
 
-/* Note that this call frees actions regardless of whether the call
- * succeeds.  */
 int
 qemuMonitorJSONTransaction(qemuMonitorPtr mon, virJSONValuePtr actions)
 {
-    int ret;
+    int ret = -1;
     virJSONValuePtr cmd;
     virJSONValuePtr reply = NULL;
+    bool protect = actions->protect;
 
+    /* We do NOT want to free actions when recursively freeing cmd.  */
+    actions->protect = true;
     cmd = qemuMonitorJSONMakeCommand("transaction",
                                      "a:actions", actions,
                                      NULL);
-    if (!cmd) {
-        virJSONValueFree(actions);
-        return -1;
-    }
+    if (!cmd)
+        goto cleanup;
 
     if ((ret = qemuMonitorJSONCommand(mon, cmd, &reply)) < 0)
         goto cleanup;
@@ -3182,6 +3181,7 @@ qemuMonitorJSONTransaction(qemuMonitorPtr mon, virJSONValuePtr actions)
 cleanup:
     virJSONValueFree(cmd);
     virJSONValueFree(reply);
+    actions->protect = protect;
     return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util/json.c b/src/util/json.c
index a85f580029..3258c3f386 100644
--- a/src/util/json.c
+++ b/src/util/json.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * json.c: JSON object parsing/formatting
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2010, 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2009 Daniel P. Berrange
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ struct _virJSONParser {
 void virJSONValueFree(virJSONValuePtr value)
 {
     int i;
-    if (!value)
+    if (!value || value->protect)
         return;
 
-    switch (value->type) {
+    switch ((virJSONType) value->type) {
     case VIR_JSON_TYPE_OBJECT:
         for (i = 0 ; i < value->data.object.npairs; i++) {
             VIR_FREE(value->data.object.pairs[i].key);
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ void virJSONValueFree(virJSONValuePtr value)
     case VIR_JSON_TYPE_NUMBER:
         VIR_FREE(value->data.number);
         break;
+    case VIR_JSON_TYPE_BOOLEAN:
+    case VIR_JSON_TYPE_NULL:
+        break;
     }
 
     VIR_FREE(value);
diff --git a/src/util/json.h b/src/util/json.h
index 457265496c..686a8fb4b2 100644
--- a/src/util/json.h
+++ b/src/util/json.h
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /*
  * json.h: JSON object parsing/formatting
  *
+ * Copyright (C) 2009, 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2009 Daniel P. Berrange
- * Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat, Inc.
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@
 # include "internal.h"
 
 
-enum {
+typedef enum {
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_OBJECT,
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_ARRAY,
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_STRING,
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_NUMBER,
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_BOOLEAN,
     VIR_JSON_TYPE_NULL,
-};
+} virJSONType;
 
 typedef struct _virJSONValue virJSONValue;
 typedef virJSONValue *virJSONValuePtr;
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ struct _virJSONArray {
 };
 
 struct _virJSONValue {
-    int type;
+    int type; /* enum virJSONType */
+    bool protect; /* prevents deletion when embedded in another object */
 
     union {
         virJSONObject object;