diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/fabric/jni/SurfaceHandlerBinding.cpp b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/fabric/jni/SurfaceHandlerBinding.cpp
index 0df81d2a899..bf16b199922 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/fabric/jni/SurfaceHandlerBinding.cpp
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/fabric/jni/SurfaceHandlerBinding.cpp
@@ -58,11 +58,13 @@ SurfaceHandlerBinding::initHybrid(
     jint surfaceId,
     jni::alias_ref<jstring> moduleName) {
   auto env = jni::Environment::current();
+
   const char *moduleNameValue =
       env->GetStringUTFChars(moduleName.get(), JNI_FALSE);
+  auto instance = makeCxxInstance(surfaceId, moduleNameValue);
   env->ReleaseStringUTFChars(moduleName.get(), moduleNameValue);
 
-  return makeCxxInstance(surfaceId, moduleNameValue);
+  return instance;
 }
 
 void SurfaceHandlerBinding::setLayoutConstraints(