diff --git a/src/conf/storage_conf.c b/src/conf/storage_conf.c
index 3657dfd54c53f33125645ab5e382a227571606b6..bfba52135bfa1e08b4fe40b8e90b134b9d311321 100644
--- a/src/conf/storage_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/storage_conf.c
@@ -1852,12 +1852,12 @@ virStoragePoolObjLoad(virStoragePoolObjListPtr pools,
 
     VIR_FREE(pool->configFile);  /* for driver reload */
     if (VIR_STRDUP(pool->configFile, path) < 0) {
-        virStoragePoolDefFree(def);
+        virStoragePoolObjRemove(pools, pool);
         return NULL;
     }
     VIR_FREE(pool->autostartLink); /* for driver reload */
     if (VIR_STRDUP(pool->autostartLink, autostartLink) < 0) {
-        virStoragePoolDefFree(def);
+        virStoragePoolObjRemove(pools, pool);
         return NULL;
     }