diff --git a/src/conky.c b/src/conky.c
index 3ffb55df..726a3f07 100644
--- a/src/conky.c
+++ b/src/conky.c
@@ -7374,12 +7374,12 @@ static void main_loop(void)
 				break;
 		}
 #ifdef HAVE_SYS_INOTIFY_H
-		if (inotify_fd != -1 && inotify_config_wd == -1) {
+		if (inotify_fd != -1 && inotify_config_wd == -1 && current_config != 0) {
 			inotify_config_wd = inotify_add_watch(inotify_fd,
 					current_config,
 					IN_MODIFY);
 		}
-		if (inotify_fd != -1 && inotify_config_wd != -1) {
+		if (inotify_fd != -1 && inotify_config_wd != -1 && current_config != 0) {
 			int len = 0, idx = 0;
 			fd_set descriptors;
 			struct timeval time_to_wait;
@@ -7569,6 +7569,7 @@ void clean_up(void)
 	}
 
 	free(current_config);
+	current_config = 0;
 
 #ifdef TCP_PORT_MONITOR
 	tcp_portmon_clear();