diff --git a/loader/main.c b/loader/main.c
index 0e6b6f66b50..3c06728504c 100644
--- a/loader/main.c
+++ b/loader/main.c
@@ -216,13 +216,15 @@ static const char *get_self_exe( char *argv0 )
         for (p = strtok( path, ":" ); p; p = strtok( NULL, ":" ))
         {
             char *name = build_path( p, argv0 );
-            int found = !access( name, X_OK );
+            if (!access( name, X_OK ))
+            {
+                free( path );
+                return name;
+            }
             free( name );
-            if (found) break;
         }
-        if (p) p = strdup( p );
         free( path );
-        return p;
+        return NULL;
     }
     return argv0;
 #endif