diff --git a/options/path.c b/options/path.c
index eaae35154f..0c3a7ba335 100644
--- a/options/path.c
+++ b/options/path.c
@@ -136,20 +136,21 @@ char *mp_find_config_file(void *talloc_ctx, struct mpv_global *global,
 {
     struct MPOpts *opts = global->opts;
 
-    void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
     char *res = NULL;
     if (opts->load_config) {
-        for (char **dir = mp_config_dirs(tmp, global); *dir; dir++) {
-            char *config_file = talloc_asprintf(tmp, "%s/%s", *dir, filename);
+        char **dirs = mp_config_dirs(NULL, global);
+        for (int i = 0; dirs && dirs[i]; i++) {
+            char *file = talloc_asprintf(talloc_ctx, "%s/%s", dirs[i], filename);
 
-            if (mp_path_exists(config_file)) {
-                res = talloc_strdup(talloc_ctx, config_file);
+            if (mp_path_exists(file)) {
+                res = file;
                 break;
             }
-        }
-    }
 
-    talloc_free(tmp);
+            talloc_free(file);
+        }
+        talloc_free(dirs);
+    }
 
     MP_VERBOSE(global, "config path: '%s' -> '%s'\n", filename,
                res ? res : "(NULL)");
@@ -165,15 +166,16 @@ char **mp_find_all_config_files(void *talloc_ctx, struct mpv_global *global,
     int num_ret = 0;
 
     if (opts->load_config) {
-        char **dir = mp_config_dirs(NULL, global);
-        for (int i = 0; dir && dir[i]; i++) {
-            char *file = talloc_asprintf(ret, "%s/%s", dir[i], filename);
+        char **dirs = mp_config_dirs(NULL, global);
+        for (int i = 0; dirs && dirs[i]; i++) {
+            char *file = talloc_asprintf(ret, "%s/%s", dirs[i], filename);
 
             if (!mp_path_exists(file) || num_ret >= MAX_CONFIG_PATHS)
                 continue;
 
             ret[num_ret++] = file;
         }
+        talloc_free(dirs);
     }
 
     for (int n = 0; n < num_ret / 2; n++)
@@ -331,8 +333,7 @@ bstr mp_split_proto(bstr path, bstr *out_url)
 
 void mp_mkdirp(const char *dir)
 {
-    void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
-    char *path = talloc_strdup(tmp, dir);
+    char *path = talloc_strdup(NULL, dir);
     char *cdir = path + 1;
 
     while (cdir) {
@@ -346,7 +347,7 @@ void mp_mkdirp(const char *dir)
             *cdir++ = '/';
     }
 
-    talloc_free(tmp);
+    talloc_free(path);
 }
 
 void mp_mk_config_dir(struct mpv_global *global, char *subdir)
diff --git a/player/configfiles.c b/player/configfiles.c
index 855ea64fd1..dab26b9df2 100644
--- a/player/configfiles.c
+++ b/player/configfiles.c
@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@
 static void load_all_cfgfiles(struct MPContext *mpctx, char *section,
                               char *filename)
 {
-    void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
-    char **cf = mp_find_all_config_files(tmp, mpctx->global, filename);
+    char **cf = mp_find_all_config_files(NULL, mpctx->global, filename);
     for (int i = 0; cf && cf[i]; i++)
         m_config_parse_config_file(mpctx->mconfig, cf[i], section, 0);
-    talloc_free(tmp);
+    talloc_free(cf);
 }
 
 #define SECT_ENCODE "encoding"
@@ -67,8 +66,6 @@ void mp_parse_cfgfiles(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     mp_mk_config_dir(mpctx->global, "");
 
     m_config_t *conf = mpctx->mconfig;
-    void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
-    char *conffile;
     char *section = NULL;
     bool encoding = opts->encode_opts &&
         opts->encode_opts->file && opts->encode_opts->file[0];
@@ -81,9 +78,10 @@ void mp_parse_cfgfiles(struct MPContext *mpctx)
 
     // The #if is a stupid hack to avoid errors if libavfilter is not available.
 #if HAVE_LIBAVFILTER && HAVE_ENCODING
-    conffile = mp_find_config_file(tmp, mpctx->global, "encoding-profiles.conf");
-    if (conffile)
-        m_config_parse_config_file(mpctx->mconfig, conffile, SECT_ENCODE, 0);
+    char *cf = mp_find_config_file(NULL, mpctx->global, "encoding-profiles.conf");
+    if (cf)
+        m_config_parse_config_file(mpctx->mconfig, cf, SECT_ENCODE, 0);
+    talloc_free(cf);
 #endif
 
     load_all_cfgfiles(mpctx, section, "config");
@@ -91,8 +89,6 @@ void mp_parse_cfgfiles(struct MPContext *mpctx)
 
     if (encoding)
         m_config_set_profile(conf, m_config_add_profile(conf, SECT_ENCODE), 0);
-
-    talloc_free(tmp);
 }
 
 static int try_load_config(struct MPContext *mpctx, const char *file, int flags)
@@ -279,8 +275,8 @@ static bool needs_config_quoting(const char *s)
 
 void mp_write_watch_later_conf(struct MPContext *mpctx)
 {
-    void *tmp = talloc_new(NULL);
     char *filename = mpctx->filename;
+    char *conffile = NULL;
     if (!filename)
         goto exit;
 
@@ -290,9 +286,8 @@ void mp_write_watch_later_conf(struct MPContext *mpctx)
 
     mp_mk_config_dir(mpctx->global, MP_WATCH_LATER_CONF);
 
-    char *conffile = mp_get_playback_resume_config_filename(mpctx->global,
-                                                            mpctx->filename);
-    talloc_steal(tmp, conffile);
+    conffile = mp_get_playback_resume_config_filename(mpctx->global,
+                                                      mpctx->filename);
     if (!conffile)
         goto exit;
 
@@ -327,7 +322,7 @@ void mp_write_watch_later_conf(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     fclose(file);
 
 exit:
-    talloc_free(tmp);
+    talloc_free(conffile);
 }
 
 void mp_load_playback_resume(struct MPContext *mpctx, const char *file)