diff --git a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
index 180ac15a15..c7396e4361 100644
--- a/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
+++ b/tests/qemumonitortestutils.c
@@ -787,7 +787,6 @@ qemuMonitorTestProcessCommandWithArgs(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
     virJSONValuePtr val = NULL;
     virJSONValuePtr args;
     virJSONValuePtr argobj;
-    char *argstr = NULL;
     const char *cmdname;
     size_t i;
     int ret = -1;
@@ -815,6 +814,8 @@ qemuMonitorTestProcessCommandWithArgs(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
     /* validate the args */
     for (i = 0; i < data->nargs; i++) {
         qemuMonitorTestCommandArgsPtr arg = &data->args[i];
+        g_autofree char *argstr = NULL;
+
         if (!(argobj = virJSONValueObjectGet(args, arg->argname))) {
             qemuMonitorTestError("Missing argument '%s' for command '%s'",
                                  arg->argname,
@@ -835,15 +836,12 @@ qemuMonitorTestProcessCommandWithArgs(qemuMonitorTestPtr test,
                                  arg->argval, argstr);
             goto cleanup;
         }
-
-        VIR_FREE(argstr);
     }
 
     /* arguments checked out, return the response */
     ret = qemuMonitorTestAddResponse(test, data->response);
 
  cleanup:
-    VIR_FREE(argstr);
     virJSONValueFree(val);
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/tests/testutilsqemu.c b/tests/testutilsqemu.c
index e3b1e2813b..855e51460b 100644
--- a/tests/testutilsqemu.c
+++ b/tests/testutilsqemu.c
@@ -497,7 +497,6 @@ testQemuGetLatestCapsForArch(const char *arch,
     DIR *dir = NULL;
     int rc;
     char *fullsuffix = NULL;
-    char *tmp = NULL;
     unsigned long maxver = 0;
     unsigned long ver;
     g_autofree char *maxname = NULL;
@@ -509,7 +508,7 @@ testQemuGetLatestCapsForArch(const char *arch,
         goto cleanup;
 
     while ((rc = virDirRead(dir, &ent, TEST_QEMU_CAPS_PATH)) > 0) {
-        VIR_FREE(tmp);
+        g_autofree char *tmp = NULL;
 
         tmp = g_strdup(STRSKIP(ent->d_name, "caps_"));
 
@@ -543,7 +542,6 @@ testQemuGetLatestCapsForArch(const char *arch,
     ret = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", TEST_QEMU_CAPS_PATH, maxname);
 
  cleanup:
-    VIR_FREE(tmp);
     VIR_FREE(fullsuffix);
     virDirClose(&dir);
     return ret;
diff --git a/tests/utiltest.c b/tests/utiltest.c
index 2bff7859dc..2921ae8d8c 100644
--- a/tests/utiltest.c
+++ b/tests/utiltest.c
@@ -42,23 +42,18 @@ static int
 testIndexToDiskName(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
 {
     size_t i;
-    char *diskName = NULL;
 
     for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS(diskNames); ++i) {
-        VIR_FREE(diskName);
+        g_autofree char *diskName = NULL;
 
         diskName = virIndexToDiskName(i, "sd");
 
         if (STRNEQ(diskNames[i], diskName)) {
             virTestDifference(stderr, diskNames[i], diskName);
-            VIR_FREE(diskName);
-
             return -1;
         }
     }
 
-    VIR_FREE(diskName);
-
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -69,10 +64,9 @@ testDiskNameToIndex(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
 {
     size_t i;
     int idx;
-    char *diskName = NULL;
 
     for (i = 0; i < 100000; ++i) {
-        VIR_FREE(diskName);
+        g_autofree char *diskName = NULL;
 
         diskName = virIndexToDiskName(i, "sd");
         idx = virDiskNameToIndex(diskName);
@@ -80,15 +74,10 @@ testDiskNameToIndex(const void *data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
         if (idx < 0 || idx != i) {
             VIR_TEST_DEBUG("\nExpect [%zu]", i);
             VIR_TEST_DEBUG("Actual [%d]", idx);
-
-            VIR_FREE(diskName);
-
             return -1;
         }
     }
 
-    VIR_FREE(diskName);
-
     return 0;
 }