diff --git a/src/org/freedesktop/gstreamer/Gst.java b/src/org/freedesktop/gstreamer/Gst.java
index 1621fbbd..14d8f163 100644
--- a/src/org/freedesktop/gstreamer/Gst.java
+++ b/src/org/freedesktop/gstreamer/Gst.java
@@ -358,7 +358,8 @@ private static GError extractError(Pointer errorPtr) {
         GErrorStruct struct = new GErrorStruct(errorPtr);
         struct.read();
         GError err = new GError(struct.getCode(), struct.getMessage());
-        GLIB_API.g_error_free(struct);
+        // freeing via raw pointer to prevent JNA from reading contents of the freed structure
+        GLIB_API.g_error_free(errorPtr);
         return err;
     }