diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
index 287822a6a6..b454c33367 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
@@ -2417,7 +2417,8 @@ Session::save_template (const string& template_name, const string& description,
 		root = &get_template ();
 	}
 
-	root->remove_nodes (X_("description"));
+	root->remove_nodes_and_delete (X_("description"));
+
 	if (!description.empty()) {
 		XMLNode* desc = new XMLNode (X_("description"));
 		XMLNode* desc_cont = new XMLNode (X_("content"), description);