diff --git a/src/plugins/c_plugins.c b/src/plugins/c_plugins.c
index 8fbe71b8..b4bc4c53 100644
--- a/src/plugins/c_plugins.c
+++ b/src/plugins/c_plugins.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ c_plugin_create(const char * const filename)
 
     if (!handle) {
         log_warning ("dlopen failed to open `%s', %s", filename, dlerror ());
+        g_string_free(path, TRUE);
         return NULL;
     }