diff --git a/qga/channel-win32.c b/qga/channel-win32.c
index 99648c95b6..4f04868a76 100644
--- a/qga/channel-win32.c
+++ b/qga/channel-win32.c
@@ -302,8 +302,8 @@ static gboolean ga_channel_open(GAChannel *c, GAChannelMethod method,
                            OPEN_EXISTING,
                            FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED, NULL);
     if (c->handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
-        g_critical("error opening path %s: %s", newpath,
-                   g_win32_error_message(GetLastError()));
+        g_autofree gchar *emsg = g_win32_error_message(GetLastError());
+        g_critical("error opening path %s: %s", newpath, emsg);
         return false;
     }