diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c b/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
index d16af72bdf..6c4e817941 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ virNetDevOpenvswitchConstructVlans(virCommandPtr cmd, const virNetDevVlan *virtV
 {
     int ret = -1;
     size_t i = 0;
-    virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+    g_auto(virBuffer) buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
 
     if (!virtVlan || !virtVlan->nTags)
         return 0;
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ virNetDevOpenvswitchConstructVlans(virCommandPtr cmd, const virNetDevVlan *virtV
     }
 
     ret = 0;
-    virBufferFreeAndReset(&buf);
     return ret;
 }