diff --git a/hw/vfio/pci.c b/hw/vfio/pci.c
index c3323912dd..8379d2284a 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/pci.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/pci.c
@@ -3143,7 +3143,7 @@ static void vfio_realize(PCIDevice *pdev, Error **errp)
 
     if (!vdev->igd_opregion &&
         vdev->features & VFIO_FEATURE_ENABLE_IGD_OPREGION) {
-        struct vfio_region_info *opregion;
+        g_autofree struct vfio_region_info *opregion = NULL;
 
         if (vdev->pdev.qdev.hotplugged) {
             error_setg(errp,
@@ -3162,7 +3162,6 @@ static void vfio_realize(PCIDevice *pdev, Error **errp)
         }
 
         ret = vfio_pci_igd_opregion_init(vdev, opregion, errp);
-        g_free(opregion);
         if (ret) {
             goto out_teardown;
         }