diff --git a/src/daemonizer/windows_service.cpp b/src/daemonizer/windows_service.cpp
index b344e1a4b..1302fa578 100644
--- a/src/daemonizer/windows_service.cpp
+++ b/src/daemonizer/windows_service.cpp
@@ -70,8 +70,9 @@ namespace {
     }
     else
     {
-      return std::string{p_error_text};
+      std::string ret{p_error_text};
       LocalFree(p_error_text);
+      return ret;
     }
   }