diff --git a/glib/gvariant.c b/glib/gvariant.c
index 2c9f951b3..d45b487ad 100644
--- a/glib/gvariant.c
+++ b/glib/gvariant.c
@@ -4662,7 +4662,15 @@ g_variant_valist_free_nnp (const gchar *str,
       break;
 
     case '^':
-      if (str[2] != '&')        /* '^as', '^ao' */
+      if (g_str_has_suffix (str, "y"))
+        {
+          if (str[2] != 'a') /* '^a&ay', '^ay' */
+            g_free (ptr);
+          else if (str[1] == 'a') /* '^aay' */
+            g_strfreev (ptr);
+          break; /* '^&ay' */
+        }
+      else if (str[2] != '&') /* '^as', '^ao' */
         g_strfreev (ptr);
       else                      /* '^a&s', '^a&o' */
         g_free (ptr);
diff --git a/glib/tests/gvariant.c b/glib/tests/gvariant.c
index ce8c31481..e8fa25d34 100644
--- a/glib/tests/gvariant.c
+++ b/glib/tests/gvariant.c
@@ -3072,28 +3072,27 @@ test_varargs (void)
     g_variant_builder_add (&builder, "^aay", strvector);
     g_variant_builder_add (&builder, "^aay", strvector);
     value = g_variant_new ("aaay", &builder);
-    g_variant_iter_init (&tuple, value);
+    array = g_variant_iter_new (value);
     i = 0;
-    while (g_variant_iter_loop (&tuple, "^aay", &my_strv)) {
-        i++;
-    }
+    while (g_variant_iter_loop (array, "^aay", &my_strv))
+      i++;
     g_assert (i == 3);
 
     /* start over */
-    g_variant_iter_init (&tuple, value);
+    g_variant_iter_init (array, value);
     i = 0;
-    while (g_variant_iter_loop (&tuple, "^a&ay", &strv)) {
-        i++;
-    }
+    while (g_variant_iter_loop (array, "^a&ay", &strv))
+      i++;
     g_assert (i == 3);
     g_variant_unref (value);
+    g_variant_iter_free (array);
 
     /* next test */
     g_variant_builder_init (&builder, G_VARIANT_TYPE ("aay"));
     g_variant_builder_add (&builder, "^ay", "/foo");
     g_variant_builder_add (&builder, "^ay", "/bar");
     g_variant_builder_add (&builder, "^ay", "/baz");
-    value = g_variant_new("(aay^aay^a&ay)", &builder, strvector, strvector);
+    value = g_variant_new ("(aay^aay^a&ay)", &builder, strvector, strvector);
     g_variant_iter_init (&tuple, value);
     g_variant_iter_next (&tuple, "aay", &array);