diff --git a/src/util/virbitmap.c b/src/util/virbitmap.c
index ef18dad255aa14537c0232664bc31058cab087b6..5b6e55f2393f7e8bec6e326697da8cd18a719af6 100644
--- a/src/util/virbitmap.c
+++ b/src/util/virbitmap.c
@@ -1202,15 +1202,12 @@ char *
 virBitmapDataFormat(const void *data,
                     int len)
 {
-    virBitmapPtr map = NULL;
-    char *ret = NULL;
+    VIR_AUTOPTR(virBitmap) map = NULL;
 
     if (!(map = virBitmapNewData(data, len)))
         return NULL;
 
-    ret = virBitmapFormat(map);
-    virBitmapFree(map);
-    return ret;
+    return virBitmapFormat(map);
 }