diff --git a/src/storage/storage_driver.c b/src/storage/storage_driver.c
index 7116185614b0de281b74284baa80fc29fc1b60b0..a5adc63dbbe54a3f38d709159b78e4086076169b 100644
--- a/src/storage/storage_driver.c
+++ b/src/storage/storage_driver.c
@@ -2906,6 +2906,7 @@ virStorageFileGetMetadataRecurse(virStorageSourcePtr src,
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
+    VIR_FREE(buf);
     virStorageFileDeinit(src);
     virStorageSourceFree(backingStore);
     return ret;