diff --git a/drivers/acpi/acpica/nsnames.c b/drivers/acpi/acpica/nsnames.c
index 4203d4589b6d64ff97cf00fe0caad6c366fa9ab6..22c92d1a24d8f8e48567b5c06c5540e67da4b456 100644
--- a/drivers/acpi/acpica/nsnames.c
+++ b/drivers/acpi/acpica/nsnames.c
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ char *acpi_ns_build_prefixed_pathname(union acpi_generic_state *prefix_scope,
 {
 	acpi_status status;
 	char *full_path = NULL;
-	char *external_path;
+	char *external_path = NULL;
 	char *prefix_path = NULL;
 	u32 prefix_path_length = 0;
 
@@ -423,6 +423,9 @@ char *acpi_ns_build_prefixed_pathname(union acpi_generic_state *prefix_scope,
 	if (prefix_path) {
 		ACPI_FREE(prefix_path);
 	}
+	if (external_path) {
+		ACPI_FREE(external_path);
+	}
 
 	return (full_path);
 }