diff --git a/vlib/net/urllib/urllib.v b/vlib/net/urllib/urllib.v
index 75f0ffa9dd..6ba72dfb61 100644
--- a/vlib/net/urllib/urllib.v
+++ b/vlib/net/urllib/urllib.v
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ fn unescape(s_ string, mode EncodingMode) ?string {
 		}
 	}
 	if n == 0 && !has_plus {
-		return s
+		return '$s' // TODO `return s` once an autofree bug is fixed
 	}
 	if s.len < 2 * n {
 		return error(error_msg('unescape: invalid escape sequence', ''))