diff --git a/migration/qjson.h b/migration/qjson.h
index 41664f2d71..1786bb5864 100644
--- a/migration/qjson.h
+++ b/migration/qjson.h
@@ -24,4 +24,6 @@ void json_start_object(QJSON *json, const char *name);
 const char *qjson_get_str(QJSON *json);
 void qjson_finish(QJSON *json);
 
+G_DEFINE_AUTOPTR_CLEANUP_FUNC(QJSON, qjson_destroy)
+
 #endif /* QEMU_QJSON_H */
diff --git a/migration/savevm.c b/migration/savevm.c
index ee06f91d42..bb9462a54d 100644
--- a/migration/savevm.c
+++ b/migration/savevm.c
@@ -1314,7 +1314,7 @@ int qemu_savevm_state_complete_precopy_non_iterable(QEMUFile *f,
                                                     bool in_postcopy,
                                                     bool inactivate_disks)
 {
-    QJSON *vmdesc;
+    g_autoptr(QJSON) vmdesc = NULL;
     int vmdesc_len;
     SaveStateEntry *se;
     int ret;
@@ -1375,7 +1375,6 @@ int qemu_savevm_state_complete_precopy_non_iterable(QEMUFile *f,
         qemu_put_be32(f, vmdesc_len);
         qemu_put_buffer(f, (uint8_t *)qjson_get_str(vmdesc), vmdesc_len);
     }
-    qjson_destroy(vmdesc);
 
     return 0;
 }