diff --git a/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c b/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
index 596c8209f..ff5150d01 100644
--- a/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
+++ b/src/wayland/meta-xwayland.c
@@ -777,6 +777,7 @@ choose_xdisplay (MetaXWaylandManager     *manager,
             {
               g_prefix_error (&local_error, "Failed to bind X11 socket: ");
               g_propagate_error (error, g_steal_pointer (&local_error));
+              g_free (lock_file);
               return FALSE;
             }