diff --git a/src/libImaging/SgiRleDecode.c b/src/libImaging/SgiRleDecode.c
index a4ee2e10d04..e604689908c 100644
--- a/src/libImaging/SgiRleDecode.c
+++ b/src/libImaging/SgiRleDecode.c
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ ImagingSgiRleDecode(Imaging im, ImagingCodecState state, UINT8 *buf, Py_ssize_t
     }
     _imaging_seek_pyFd(state->fd, SGI_HEADER_SIZE, SEEK_SET);
     if (_imaging_read_pyFd(state->fd, (char *)ptr, c->bufsize) != c->bufsize) {
+        free(ptr);
         state->errcode = IMAGING_CODEC_UNKNOWN;
         return -1;
     }