diff --git a/src/acl.c b/src/acl.c
index 3ce45f03b..e0432ba5c 100644
--- a/src/acl.c
+++ b/src/acl.c
@@ -1327,6 +1327,7 @@ sds ACLLoadFromFile(const char *filename) {
             errors = sdscatprintf(errors,
                      "'%s:%d: username '%s' contains invalid characters. ",
                      server.acl_filename, linenum, argv[1]);
+            sdsfreesplitres(argv,argc);
             continue;
         }