diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 132ee664ad..1b704daa50 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -877,6 +877,7 @@ int virQEMUDriverConfigLoadFile(virQEMUDriverConfigPtr cfg,
     ret = 0;
 
  cleanup:
+    virStringListFree(namespaces);
     virStringListFree(controllers);
     virStringListFree(hugetlbfs);
     virStringListFree(nvram);