diff --git a/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c b/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
index a5c711b1de..ce4c3426d3 100644
--- a/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
+++ b/tests/vhost-user-bridge.c
@@ -746,14 +746,12 @@ vubr_run(VubrDev *dev)
 static int
 vubr_parse_host_port(const char **host, const char **port, const char *buf)
 {
-    char *p = strchr(buf, ':');
-
-    if (!p) {
+    g_auto(GStrv) tokens = g_strsplit(buf, ":", 2);
+    if (!tokens[0] || !tokens[1]) {
         return -1;
     }
-    *p = '\0';
-    *host = strdup(buf);
-    *port = strdup(p + 1);
+    *host = g_steal_pointer(&tokens[0]);
+    *port = g_steal_pointer(&tokens[1]);
     return 0;
 }