diff --git a/src/or/networkstatus.c b/src/or/networkstatus.c
index 25db1e6dec..e1488adfcb 100644
--- a/src/or/networkstatus.c
+++ b/src/or/networkstatus.c
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ router_reload_v2_networkstatus(void)
   } else if (!smartlist_len(entries) && maybe_delete) {
     rmdir(filename);
     tor_free(filename);
+    smartlist_free(entries);
     return 0;
   }
   tor_free(filename);