diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 18ba2b063c..b796dc8c2a 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -3007,7 +3007,6 @@ finish:
                 /* Cleanup watchdog_device strings for valgrind. We need them
                  * in become_shutdown() so normally we cannot free them yet. */
                 watchdog_free_device();
-                arg_watchdog_device = mfree(arg_watchdog_device);
                 reset_arguments();
                 return retval;
         }