diff --git a/src/emu/image.c b/src/emu/image.c
index d3c08ef028e..129f03a5728 100644
--- a/src/emu/image.c
+++ b/src/emu/image.c
@@ -226,13 +226,13 @@ void image_device_init(running_machine *machine)
 			{
 				/* retrieve image error message */
 				astring image_err = astring(image->error());
-				const char *image_basename_str = image->basename();
+				astring image_basename(image_name);
 				/* unload all images */
 				image_unload_all(*machine);
 
 				fatalerror_exitcode(machine, MAMERR_DEVICE, "Device %s load (%s) failed: %s",
 					image->image_config().devconfig().name(),
-					image_basename_str,
+					image_basename.cstr(),
 					image_err.cstr());
 			}
 		}