diff --git a/src/util/viralloc.h b/src/util/viralloc.h
index 7125e672ba..bf85c16824 100644
--- a/src/util/viralloc.h
+++ b/src/util/viralloc.h
@@ -548,18 +548,17 @@ void virFree(void *ptrptr) ATTRIBUTE_NONNULL(1);
  * This macro is safe to use on arguments with side effects.
  */
 # if !STATIC_ANALYSIS
-/* The ternary ensures that ptr is a pointer and not an integer type,
- * while evaluating ptr only once.  This gives us extra compiler
- * safety when compiling under gcc.  For now, we intentionally cast
- * away const, since a number of callers safely pass const char *.
+/* The ternary ensures that ptr is a non-const pointer and not an
+ * integer type, all while evaluating ptr only once.  This gives us
+ * extra compiler safety when compiling under gcc.
  */
-#  define VIR_FREE(ptr) virFree((void *) (1 ? (const void *) &(ptr) : (ptr)))
+#  define VIR_FREE(ptr) virFree(1 ? (void *) &(ptr) : (ptr))
 # else
 /* The Coverity static analyzer considers the else path of the "?:" and
  * flags the VIR_FREE() of the address of the address of memory as a
  * RESOURCE_LEAK resulting in numerous false positives (eg, VIR_FREE(&ptr))
  */
-#  define VIR_FREE(ptr) virFree((void *) &(ptr))
+#  define VIR_FREE(ptr) virFree(&(ptr))
 # endif
 
 void virAllocTestInit(void);
diff --git a/src/xenapi/xenapi_utils.c b/src/xenapi/xenapi_utils.c
index a80d136519..ef89f42550 100644
--- a/src/xenapi/xenapi_utils.c
+++ b/src/xenapi/xenapi_utils.c
@@ -44,13 +44,15 @@ void
 xenSessionFree(xen_session *session)
 {
     size_t i;
+    char *tmp;
     if (session->error_description != NULL) {
         for (i = 0; i < session->error_description_count; i++)
             VIR_FREE(session->error_description[i]);
         VIR_FREE(session->error_description);
     }
     /* The session_id member is type of 'const char *'. Sigh. */
-    VIR_FREE(session->session_id);
+    tmp = (char *)session->session_id;
+    VIR_FREE(tmp);
     VIR_FREE(session);
 }