diff --git a/src/portable/portablectl.c b/src/portable/portablectl.c
index 99690fc768..39f273f21d 100644
--- a/src/portable/portablectl.c
+++ b/src/portable/portablectl.c
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ static int inspect_image(int argc, char *argv[], void *userdata) {
                 fflush(stdout);
                 nl = true;
         } else {
-                const char *pretty_portable = NULL, *pretty_os = NULL;
+                _cleanup_free_ char *pretty_portable = NULL, *pretty_os = NULL;
 
                 _cleanup_fclose_ FILE *f;