diff --git a/src/stdlib/SDL_string.c b/src/stdlib/SDL_string.c
index 0c97cc0248..9f434a46cb 100644
--- a/src/stdlib/SDL_string.c
+++ b/src/stdlib/SDL_string.c
@@ -2201,6 +2201,7 @@ int SDL_vasprintf(char **strp, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 
         /* Check error code */
         if (retval < 0) {
+            SDL_free(p);
             return retval;
         }