diff --git a/src/log/Log.cc b/src/log/Log.cc
index 23991857be..03ddfbf3a1 100644
--- a/src/log/Log.cc
+++ b/src/log/Log.cc
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ FileLog::FileLog(const string&   file_name,
 
     if (file.fail() == true)
     {
+        free(log_file);
+
         throw runtime_error("Could not open log file");
     }