diff --git a/src/util/virtpm.c b/src/util/virtpm.c
index b41eb00619..128ca0c579 100644
--- a/src/util/virtpm.c
+++ b/src/util/virtpm.c
@@ -323,16 +323,14 @@ virTPMEmulatorInit(void)
                                      _("Could not stat %s"), path);
                 goto cleanup;
             }
-            *prgs[i].path = path;
+            *prgs[i].path = g_steal_pointer(&path);
 
             if (prgs[i].caps) {
                 *prgs[i].caps = virTPMGetCaps(prgs[i].typeFromStringFn,
-                                              path, prgs[i].parm);
-                path = NULL;
+                                              *prgs[i].path, prgs[i].parm);
                 if (!*prgs[i].caps)
                     goto cleanup;
             }
-            path = NULL;
         }
     }