diff --git a/media/libeffects/config/include/media/EffectsConfig.h b/media/libeffects/config/include/media/EffectsConfig.h
index 55b946f..fa0415b 100644
--- a/media/libeffects/config/include/media/EffectsConfig.h
+++ b/media/libeffects/config/include/media/EffectsConfig.h
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
     /** Parsed config, nullptr if the xml lib could not load the file */
     std::unique_ptr<Config> parsedConfig;
     size_t nbSkippedElement; //< Number of skipped invalid library, effect or processing chain
-    const char* configPath; //< Path to the loaded configuration
+    const std::string configPath; //< Path to the loaded configuration
 };
 
 /** Parses the provided effect configuration.
diff --git a/media/libeffects/config/src/EffectsConfig.cpp b/media/libeffects/config/src/EffectsConfig.cpp
index d79501f..351b1ee 100644
--- a/media/libeffects/config/src/EffectsConfig.cpp
+++ b/media/libeffects/config/src/EffectsConfig.cpp
@@ -250,14 +250,14 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-/** Internal version of the public parse(const char* path) with precondition `path != nullptr`. */
-ParsingResult parseWithPath(const char* path) {
+/** Internal version of the public parse(const char* path) where path always exist. */
+ParsingResult parseWithPath(std::string&& path) {
     XMLDocument doc;
-    doc.LoadFile(path);
+    doc.LoadFile(path.c_str());
     if (doc.Error()) {
-        ALOGE("Failed to parse %s: Tinyxml2 error (%d): %s", path,
+        ALOGE("Failed to parse %s: Tinyxml2 error (%d): %s", path.c_str(),
               doc.ErrorID(), doc.ErrorStr());
-        return {nullptr, 0, path};
+        return {nullptr, 0, std::move(path)};
     }
 
     auto config = std::make_unique<Config>();
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@
             }
         }
     }
-    return {std::move(config), nbSkippedElements, path};
+    return {std::move(config), nbSkippedElements, std::move(path)};
 }
 
 }; // namespace
@@ -310,14 +310,14 @@
         if (access(defaultPath.c_str(), R_OK) != 0) {
             continue;
         }
-        auto result = parseWithPath(defaultPath.c_str());
+        auto result = parseWithPath(std::move(defaultPath));
         if (result.parsedConfig != nullptr) {
             return result;
         }
     }
 
     ALOGE("Could not parse effect configuration in any of the default locations.");
-    return {nullptr, 0, nullptr};
+    return {nullptr, 0, ""};
 }
 
 } // namespace effectsConfig
diff --git a/media/libeffects/factory/EffectsXmlConfigLoader.cpp b/media/libeffects/factory/EffectsXmlConfigLoader.cpp
index 7a7d431..052a88b 100644
--- a/media/libeffects/factory/EffectsXmlConfigLoader.cpp
+++ b/media/libeffects/factory/EffectsXmlConfigLoader.cpp
@@ -327,7 +327,8 @@
                                            &gSkippedEffects, &gSubEffectList);
 
     ALOGE_IF(result.nbSkippedElement != 0, "%zu errors during loading of configuration: %s",
-             result.nbSkippedElement, result.configPath ?: "No config file found");
+             result.nbSkippedElement,
+             result.configPath.empty() ? "No config file found" : result.configPath.c_str());
 
     return result.nbSkippedElement;
 }