diff --git a/source4/lib/registry/regf.c b/source4/lib/registry/regf.c
index 6d4ea1b6880..c5a74c79115 100644
--- a/source4/lib/registry/regf.c
+++ b/source4/lib/registry/regf.c
@@ -2144,7 +2144,7 @@ WERROR reg_open_regf_file(TALLOC_CTX *parent_ctx, const char *location,
 					       regf->header->data_offset);
 
 	/* We can drop our own reference now that *key will have created one */
-	talloc_free(regf);
+	talloc_unlink(parent_ctx, regf);
 
 	return WERR_OK;
 }