diff --git a/hw/block/xen-block.c b/hw/block/xen-block.c
index f099914831..3906b9058b 100644
--- a/hw/block/xen-block.c
+++ b/hw/block/xen-block.c
@@ -781,14 +781,15 @@ static XenBlockDrive *xen_block_drive_create(const char *id,
     drive = g_new0(XenBlockDrive, 1);
     drive->id = g_strdup(id);
 
-    file_layer = qdict_new();
-    driver_layer = qdict_new();
-
     rc = stat(filename, &st);
     if (rc) {
         error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "Could not stat file '%s'", filename);
         goto done;
     }
+
+    file_layer = qdict_new();
+    driver_layer = qdict_new();
+
     if (S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
         qdict_put_str(file_layer, "driver", "host_device");
     } else {
@@ -796,7 +797,6 @@ static XenBlockDrive *xen_block_drive_create(const char *id,
     }
 
     qdict_put_str(file_layer, "filename", filename);
-    g_free(filename);
 
     if (mode && *mode != 'w') {
         qdict_put_bool(file_layer, "read-only", true);
@@ -831,7 +831,6 @@ static XenBlockDrive *xen_block_drive_create(const char *id,
     qdict_put_str(file_layer, "locking", "off");
 
     qdict_put_str(driver_layer, "driver", driver);
-    g_free(driver);
 
     qdict_put(driver_layer, "file", file_layer);
 
@@ -842,6 +841,8 @@ static XenBlockDrive *xen_block_drive_create(const char *id,
     qobject_unref(driver_layer);
 
 done:
+    g_free(filename);
+    g_free(driver);
     if (*errp) {
         xen_block_drive_destroy(drive, NULL);
         return NULL;