diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
index 74af7727941..c60bab4b6d8 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
@@ -5753,8 +5753,11 @@ static int create_edit_temp_file(const char *new_path, const char *original_path
                 return log_oom();
 
         r = mkdir_parents(new_path, 0755);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create directories for %s: %m", new_path);
+        if (r < 0) {
+                log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create directories for %s: %m", new_path);
+                free(t);
+                return r;
+        }
 
         r = copy_file(original_path, t, 0, 0644);
         if (r == -ENOENT) {