diff --git a/util/path.c b/util/path.c
index 623219e4c5f4b0300e69d8034eb42d2ebc9bf5c4..5c59d9f1d3bf33a8b6ce6556d2f53b6397d53eab 100644
--- a/util/path.c
+++ b/util/path.c
@@ -160,7 +160,9 @@ void init_paths(const char *prefix)
     base = new_entry("", NULL, pref_buf);
     base = add_dir_maybe(base);
     if (base->num_entries == 0) {
-        free (base);
+        g_free(base->pathname);
+        free(base->name);
+        free(base);
         base = NULL;
     } else {
         set_parents(base, base);