diff --git a/scripts/kconfig/confdata.c b/scripts/kconfig/confdata.c
index 992575f1e976..886698a5afba 100644
--- a/scripts/kconfig/confdata.c
+++ b/scripts/kconfig/confdata.c
@@ -382,10 +382,12 @@ int conf_read_simple(const char *name, int def)
 
 			*p = '\0';
 
-			in = zconf_fopen(env);
+			name = env;
+
+			in = zconf_fopen(name);
 			if (in) {
 				conf_message("using defaults found in %s",
-					     env);
+					     name);
 				goto load;
 			}