diff --git a/gnss/common/utils/default/GnssReplayUtils.cpp b/gnss/common/utils/default/GnssReplayUtils.cpp
index 6dcf6ea252..fc4c477ae8 100644
--- a/gnss/common/utils/default/GnssReplayUtils.cpp
+++ b/gnss/common/utils/default/GnssReplayUtils.cpp
@@ -21,18 +21,17 @@ namespace hardware {
 namespace gnss {
 namespace common {
 
-const char* ReplayUtils::getGnssPath() {
-    const char* gnss_dev_path = GNSS_PATH;
+std::string ReplayUtils::getGnssPath() {
     char devname_value[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX] = "";
     if (property_get("debug.location.gnss.devname", devname_value, NULL) > 0) {
-        gnss_dev_path = devname_value;
+        return devname_value;
     }
-    return gnss_dev_path;
+    return GNSS_PATH;
 }
 
 bool ReplayUtils::hasGnssDeviceFile() {
     struct stat sb;
-    return stat(getGnssPath(), &sb) != -1;
+    return stat(getGnssPath().c_str(), &sb) != -1;
 }
 
 bool ReplayUtils::isGnssRawMeasurement(const std::string& inputStr) {
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ bool ReplayUtils::isNMEA(const std::string& inputStr) {
 
 std::string ReplayUtils::getDataFromDeviceFile(const std::string& command, int mMinIntervalMs) {
     char inputBuffer[INPUT_BUFFER_SIZE];
-    int mGnssFd = open(getGnssPath(), O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK);
+    int mGnssFd = open(getGnssPath().c_str(), O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK);
 
     if (mGnssFd == -1) {
         return "";
diff --git a/gnss/common/utils/default/include/GnssReplayUtils.h b/gnss/common/utils/default/include/GnssReplayUtils.h
index d7530f741a..32c0e58c0c 100644
--- a/gnss/common/utils/default/include/GnssReplayUtils.h
+++ b/gnss/common/utils/default/include/GnssReplayUtils.h
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ namespace gnss {
 namespace common {
 
 struct ReplayUtils {
-    static const char* getGnssPath();
+    static std::string getGnssPath();
 
     static std::string getDataFromDeviceFile(const std::string& command, int mMinIntervalMs);
 
diff --git a/gnss/common/utils/default/include/v2_1/GnssTemplate.h b/gnss/common/utils/default/include/v2_1/GnssTemplate.h
index 66c23d4719..4e07af9853 100644
--- a/gnss/common/utils/default/include/v2_1/GnssTemplate.h
+++ b/gnss/common/utils/default/include/v2_1/GnssTemplate.h
@@ -162,11 +162,11 @@ template <class T_IGnss>
 std::unique_ptr<V2_0::GnssLocation> GnssTemplate<T_IGnss>::getLocationFromHW() {
     if (!mHardwareModeChecked) {
         // default using /dev/gnss0
-        const char* gnss_dev_path = ReplayUtils::getGnssPath();
+        std::string gnss_dev_path = ReplayUtils::getGnssPath();
 
-        mGnssFd = open(gnss_dev_path, O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK);
+        mGnssFd = open(gnss_dev_path.c_str(), O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK);
         if (mGnssFd == -1) {
-            ALOGW("Failed to open %s errno: %d", gnss_dev_path, errno);
+            ALOGW("Failed to open %s errno: %d", gnss_dev_path.c_str(), errno);
         }
         mHardwareModeChecked = true;
     }