diff --git a/qobject/qdict.c b/qobject/qdict.c
index 0f3e0a6c81..60d6cd5a0e 100644
--- a/qobject/qdict.c
+++ b/qobject/qdict.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static void qdict_do_flatten(QDict *qdict, QDict *target, const char *prefix)
 {
     QObject *value;
     const QDictEntry *entry, *next;
-    const char *new_key;
+    char *new_key;
     bool delete;
 
     entry = qdict_first(qdict);
@@ -506,6 +506,8 @@ static void qdict_do_flatten(QDict *qdict, QDict *target, const char *prefix)
             delete = true;
         }
 
+        g_free(new_key);
+
         if (delete) {
             qdict_del(qdict, entry->key);