diff --git a/main/fopen_wrappers.c b/main/fopen_wrappers.c
index 18e74ec3c73..40aa8d2f2c8 100644
--- a/main/fopen_wrappers.c
+++ b/main/fopen_wrappers.c
@@ -975,6 +975,7 @@ PHPAPI char *expand_filepath(const char *filepath, char *real_path)
 	new_state.cwd_length = strlen(cwd);
 
 	if(virtual_file_ex(&new_state, filepath, NULL)) {
+		free(new_state.cwd);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -984,8 +985,8 @@ PHPAPI char *expand_filepath(const char *filepath, char *real_path)
 		real_path[copy_len]='\0';
 	} else {
 		real_path = estrndup(new_state.cwd, new_state.cwd_length);
-		free(new_state.cwd);
 	}
+	free(new_state.cwd);
 
 	return real_path;
 }