diff --git a/lib/vtls/schannel_verify.c b/lib/vtls/schannel_verify.c
index 31b3b2f02..2a6049e0e 100644
--- a/lib/vtls/schannel_verify.c
+++ b/lib/vtls/schannel_verify.c
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ static CURLcode verify_host(struct Curl_easy *data,
     failf(data, "schannel: server certificate name verification failed");
 
 cleanup:
-  curlx_unicodefree(cert_hostname_buff);
+  curl_safefree(cert_hostname_buff);
 
   return result;
 }