diff --git a/libc/calls/ntspawn.c b/libc/calls/ntspawn.c
index ba949b71d..b0887c2b6 100644
--- a/libc/calls/ntspawn.c
+++ b/libc/calls/ntspawn.c
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ textwindows int ntspawn(struct NtSpawnArgs *args) {
   BLOCK_SIGNALS;
   if ((sb = ntspawn_malloc(sizeof(*sb)))) {
     rc = ntspawn2(args, sb);
+    ntspawn_free(sb);
   } else {
     rc = -1;
   }