diff --git a/kernel/auditfilter.c b/kernel/auditfilter.c
index 0ee9eff866d6..3d15c66b7f0b 100644
--- a/kernel/auditfilter.c
+++ b/kernel/auditfilter.c
@@ -865,6 +865,12 @@ static inline int audit_add_rule(struct audit_entry *entry)
 		err = audit_add_watch(&entry->rule, &list);
 		if (err) {
 			mutex_unlock(&audit_filter_mutex);
+			/*
+			 * normally audit_add_tree_rule() will free it
+			 * on failure
+			 */
+			if (tree)
+				audit_put_tree(tree);
 			goto error;
 		}
 	}