diff --git a/daxctl/device.c b/daxctl/device.c
index e3993b1..0b2f20d 100644
--- a/daxctl/device.c
+++ b/daxctl/device.c
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #include "filter.h"
 #include "json.h"
 
+#include <libgen.h>
+
 static struct {
 	const char *dev;
 	const char *mode;
@@ -366,7 +368,7 @@ static const char *parse_device_options(int argc, const char **argv,
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, options, u, 0);
 	if (argc > 0)
-		device = basename(argv[0]);
+		device = basename(strdup(argv[0]));
 
 	/* Handle action-agnostic non-option arguments */
 	if (argc == 0 &&