diff --git a/src/util/virstoragefile.c b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
index ea80c1d88b..73cfef02be 100644
--- a/src/util/virstoragefile.c
+++ b/src/util/virstoragefile.c
@@ -1213,6 +1213,7 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(const char *path, const char *canonPath,
             meta->backingMeta = backing;
         }
     }
+    VIR_FREE(backingDirectory);
     return ret;
 }