diff --git a/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c b/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
index b1ee5a38f964..37d397aae9b9 100644
--- a/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
+++ b/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
@@ -340,8 +340,10 @@ static int st_nci_hci_connectivity_event_received(struct nci_dev *ndev,
 
 		/* Check next byte is PARAMETERS tag (82) */
 		if (skb->data[transaction->aid_len + 2] !=
-		    NFC_EVT_TRANSACTION_PARAMS_TAG)
+		    NFC_EVT_TRANSACTION_PARAMS_TAG) {
+			devm_kfree(dev, transaction);
 			return -EPROTO;
+		}
 
 		transaction->params_len = skb->data[transaction->aid_len + 3];
 		memcpy(transaction->params, skb->data +