diff --git a/hostapd/config.c b/hostapd/config.c
index 3cc2a174c..e62a9c28b 100644
--- a/hostapd/config.c
+++ b/hostapd/config.c
@@ -26,9 +26,6 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 
-extern struct wpa_driver_ops *wpa_drivers[];
-
-
 static void hostapd_config_free_vlan(struct hostapd_bss_config *bss)
 {
 	struct hostapd_vlan *vlan, *prev;
@@ -115,15 +112,6 @@ struct hostapd_config * hostapd_config_defaults(void)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* set default driver based on configuration */
-	conf->driver = wpa_drivers[0];
-	if (conf->driver == NULL) {
-		wpa_printf(MSG_ERROR, "No driver wrappers registered!");
-		os_free(conf);
-		os_free(bss);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
 	bss->radius = os_zalloc(sizeof(*bss->radius));
 	if (bss->radius == NULL) {
 		os_free(conf);
diff --git a/hostapd/config_file.c b/hostapd/config_file.c
index 0554f1275..c0a59dbd3 100644
--- a/hostapd/config_file.c
+++ b/hostapd/config_file.c
@@ -1148,6 +1148,15 @@ struct hostapd_config * hostapd_config_read(const char *fname)
 		fclose(f);
 		return NULL;
 	}
+
+	/* set default driver based on configuration */
+	conf->driver = wpa_drivers[0];
+	if (conf->driver == NULL) {
+		wpa_printf(MSG_ERROR, "No driver wrappers registered!");
+		hostapd_config_free(conf);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	bss = conf->last_bss = conf->bss;
 
 	while (fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), f)) {