diff --git a/module/zfs/vdev_removal.c b/module/zfs/vdev_removal.c
index 8089571e12e..202b7aa37d7 100644
--- a/module/zfs/vdev_removal.c
+++ b/module/zfs/vdev_removal.c
@@ -2166,7 +2166,7 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 	int error = 0, error_log;
 	boolean_t locked = MUTEX_HELD(&spa_namespace_lock);
 	sysevent_t *ev = NULL;
-	char *vd_type = NULL, *vd_path = NULL, *vd_path_log = NULL;
+	char *vd_type = NULL, *vd_path = NULL;
 
 	ASSERT(spa_writeable(spa));
 
@@ -2201,7 +2201,8 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 			    ESC_ZFS_VDEV_REMOVE_AUX);
 
 			vd_type = VDEV_TYPE_SPARE;
-			vd_path = fnvlist_lookup_string(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_PATH);
+			vd_path = spa_strdup(fnvlist_lookup_string(
+			    nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_PATH));
 			spa_vdev_remove_aux(spa->spa_spares.sav_config,
 			    ZPOOL_CONFIG_SPARES, spares, nspares, nv);
 			spa_load_spares(spa);
@@ -2214,7 +2215,8 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 	    ZPOOL_CONFIG_L2CACHE, &l2cache, &nl2cache) == 0 &&
 	    (nv = spa_nvlist_lookup_by_guid(l2cache, nl2cache, guid)) != NULL) {
 		vd_type = VDEV_TYPE_L2CACHE;
-		vd_path = fnvlist_lookup_string(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_PATH);
+		vd_path = spa_strdup(fnvlist_lookup_string(
+		    nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_PATH));
 		/*
 		 * Cache devices can always be removed.
 		 */
@@ -2227,7 +2229,8 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 	} else if (vd != NULL && vd->vdev_islog) {
 		ASSERT(!locked);
 		vd_type = VDEV_TYPE_LOG;
-		vd_path = (vd->vdev_path != NULL) ? vd->vdev_path : "-";
+		vd_path = spa_strdup((vd->vdev_path != NULL) ?
+		    vd->vdev_path : "-");
 		error = spa_vdev_remove_log(vd, &txg);
 	} else if (vd != NULL) {
 		ASSERT(!locked);
@@ -2239,9 +2242,6 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 		error = SET_ERROR(ENOENT);
 	}
 
-	if (vd_path != NULL)
-		vd_path_log = spa_strdup(vd_path);
-
 	error_log = error;
 
 	if (!locked)
@@ -2254,12 +2254,12 @@ spa_vdev_remove(spa_t *spa, uint64_t guid, boolean_t unspare)
 	 * Doing that would prevent the txg sync from actually happening,
 	 * causing a deadlock.
 	 */
-	if (error_log == 0 && vd_type != NULL && vd_path_log != NULL) {
+	if (error_log == 0 && vd_type != NULL && vd_path != NULL) {
 		spa_history_log_internal(spa, "vdev remove", NULL,
-		    "%s vdev (%s) %s", spa_name(spa), vd_type, vd_path_log);
+		    "%s vdev (%s) %s", spa_name(spa), vd_type, vd_path);
 	}
-	if (vd_path_log != NULL)
-		spa_strfree(vd_path_log);
+	if (vd_path != NULL)
+		spa_strfree(vd_path);
 
 	if (ev != NULL)
 		spa_event_post(ev);