diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
index e0a5300f08fafb699fa2217caa4126d78007ba55..49af4d4ff0ba4917797ef89b01fb0289905a47bc 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_hotplug.c
@@ -2212,6 +2212,10 @@ qemuDomainAttachMemory(virQEMUDriverPtr driver,
         ignore_value(qemuMonitorDelObject(priv->mon, objalias));
     if (qemuDomainObjExitMonitor(driver, vm) < 0)
         mem = NULL;
+
+    if (objAdded && mem)
+        ignore_value(qemuProcessDestroyMemoryBackingPath(driver, vm, mem));
+
     virErrorRestore(&orig_err);
     if (!mem)
         goto audit;