diff --git a/reactos/dll/win32/kernel32/client/dosdev.c b/reactos/dll/win32/kernel32/client/dosdev.c
index 5a62d844a26..38e0e3e0fa6 100644
--- a/reactos/dll/win32/kernel32/client/dosdev.c
+++ b/reactos/dll/win32/kernel32/client/dosdev.c
@@ -219,7 +219,8 @@ DefineDosDeviceW(
         }
     }
 
-    if (NtTargetPathU.Buffer)
+    if (NtTargetPathU.Buffer &&
+        NtTargetPathU.Buffer != lpTargetPath)
     {
         RtlFreeHeap(RtlGetProcessHeap(),
                     0,