diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/util.c b/scripts/kconfig/util.c
index 703ee4904613..a365594770d9 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/util.c
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/util.c
@@ -14,18 +14,16 @@
 struct file *file_lookup(const char *name)
 {
 	struct file *file;
-	char *file_name = sym_expand_string_value(name);
 
 	for (file = file_list; file; file = file->next) {
 		if (!strcmp(name, file->name)) {
-			free(file_name);
 			return file;
 		}
 	}
 
 	file = xmalloc(sizeof(*file));
 	memset(file, 0, sizeof(*file));
-	file->name = file_name;
+	file->name = xstrdup(name);
 	file->next = file_list;
 	file_list = file;
 	return file;