diff --git a/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c b/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
index dadd8a92e343c1c7e5380ea523bb9dcf50be5e28..6bd01f2802f7be3780f854cb949d17bcbbb1501c 100644
--- a/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
+++ b/src/common/slurm_protocol_api.c
@@ -1607,7 +1607,7 @@ extern char *slurm_get_sched_params(void)
  	if(slurmdbd_conf) {
 	} else {
 		conf = slurm_conf_lock();
-		params = conf->sched_params;
+		params = xstrdup(conf->sched_params);
 		slurm_conf_unlock();
 	}
 	return params;