diff --git a/hw/vfio/container.c b/hw/vfio/container.c
index 539cf34b208544b18deee120f8b16747c8ba1010..95b8cff33bb1adc0dd63df7b4082ef8a6fad8c53 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/container.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/container.c
@@ -987,7 +987,8 @@ static void vfio_put_base_device(VFIODevice *vbasedev)
 
 static int vfio_device_groupid(VFIODevice *vbasedev, Error **errp)
 {
-    char *tmp, group_path[PATH_MAX], *group_name;
+    char *tmp, group_path[PATH_MAX];
+    g_autofree char *group_name = NULL;
     int ret, groupid;
     ssize_t len;
 
@@ -1003,7 +1004,7 @@ static int vfio_device_groupid(VFIODevice *vbasedev, Error **errp)
 
     group_path[len] = 0;
 
-    group_name = basename(group_path);
+    group_name = g_path_get_basename(group_path);
     if (sscanf(group_name, "%d", &groupid) != 1) {
         error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "failed to read %s", group_path);
         return -errno;