diff --git a/modules/cookies/cookiectl.c b/modules/cookies/cookiectl.c
index 9f475ffcc380933ac119e952886bc78d0ae4be29..21af0d0b1a01163e944c0396fcbdd78478c87529 100644
--- a/modules/cookies/cookiectl.c
+++ b/modules/cookies/cookiectl.c
@@ -518,6 +518,7 @@ static bool config_apply_json(struct kr_cookie_ctx *ctx, JsonNode *root_node)
 		return false;
 	}
 	if (!obtain_secret(root_node, &new_srvr_secret, NAME_SERVER_SECRET)) {
+		free(new_clnt_secret);
 		return false;
 	}