diff --git a/grub-core/osdep/linux/getroot.c b/grub-core/osdep/linux/getroot.c
index f48b81aed..a2e360f52 100644
--- a/grub-core/osdep/linux/getroot.c
+++ b/grub-core/osdep/linux/getroot.c
@@ -360,8 +360,10 @@ get_btrfs_fs_prefix (const char *mount_path)
 	ret[1+namelen] = '\0';
     }
   if (!ret)
-    return xstrdup ("/");
+    ret = xstrdup ("/");
+  close (fd);
   return ret;
+
  fail:
   free (ret);
   close (fd);