diff --git a/tree.c b/tree.c
index d2347dfdf..636f81fed 100644
--- a/tree.c
+++ b/tree.c
@@ -4881,7 +4881,9 @@ xmlGetNodePath(const xmlNode *node)
             }
             next = ((xmlAttrPtr) cur)->parent;
         } else {
-            next = cur->parent;
+            xmlFree(buf);
+            xmlFree(buffer);
+            return (NULL);
         }
 
         /*