diff --git a/tools/libxl/libxl.h b/tools/libxl/libxl.h
index 41d6e8db6c..291c1909f9 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/libxl.h
+++ b/tools/libxl/libxl.h
@@ -477,6 +477,16 @@ typedef struct libxl__ctx libxl_ctx;
 #define LIBXL_HAVE_NONCONST_EVENT_OCCURS_EVENT_ARG 1
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * LIBXL_HAVE_CONST_LIBXL_BASENAME_RETURN_VALUE
+ *
+ * The return value of libxl_basename is malloc'ed but the erroneously
+ * marked as "const" in releases before 4.5.
+ */
+#if defined(LIBXL_API_VERSION) && LIBXL_API_VERSION < 0x040500
+#define LIBXL_HAVE_CONST_LIBXL_BASENAME_RETURN_VALUE 1
+#endif
+
 /*
  * LIBXL_HAVE_PHYSINFO_OUTSTANDING_PAGES
  *
diff --git a/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.c b/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.c
index 3e1ba170bd..22119fcb8a 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.c
+++ b/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.c
@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@
 
 #include "libxl_internal.h"
 
-const char *libxl_basename(const char *name)
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_CONST_LIBXL_BASENAME_RETURN_VALUE
+const
+#endif
+char *libxl_basename(const char *name)
 {
     const char *filename;
     if (name == NULL)
diff --git a/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.h b/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.h
index 117b22924c..8277eb9ec9 100644
--- a/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.h
+++ b/tools/libxl/libxl_utils.h
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 
 #include "libxl.h"
 
-const char *libxl_basename(const char *name); /* returns string from strdup */
+#ifdef LIBXL_HAVE_CONST_LIBXL_BASENAME_RETURN_VALUE
+const
+#endif
+char *libxl_basename(const char *name); /* returns string from strdup */
+
 unsigned long libxl_get_required_shadow_memory(unsigned long maxmem_kb, unsigned int smp_cpus);
 int libxl_name_to_domid(libxl_ctx *ctx, const char *name, uint32_t *domid);
 int libxl_domain_qualifier_to_domid(libxl_ctx *ctx, const char *name, uint32_t *domid);