diff --git a/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c b/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
index fdb665b01d..db1b2e55a1 100644
--- a/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
+++ b/src/cpu/cpu_x86.c
@@ -1797,7 +1797,7 @@ virCPUx86DataParse(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
  */
 #define virX86CpuIncompatible(MSG, CPU_DEF) \
         do { \
-            char *flagsStr = NULL; \
+            g_autofree char *flagsStr = NULL; \
             if (!(flagsStr = x86FeatureNames(map, ", ", (CPU_DEF)))) { \
                 virReportOOMError(); \
                 return VIR_CPU_COMPARE_ERROR; \
@@ -1805,7 +1805,6 @@ virCPUx86DataParse(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt)
             if (message) \
                 *message = g_strdup_printf("%s: %s", _(MSG), flagsStr); \
             VIR_DEBUG("%s: %s", MSG, flagsStr); \
-            VIR_FREE(flagsStr); \
         } while (0)