diff --git a/src/util-spm-hs.c b/src/util-spm-hs.c
index a08fdb7daf..8f6cd9000d 100644
--- a/src/util-spm-hs.c
+++ b/src/util-spm-hs.c
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ static int HSBuildDatabase(const uint8_t *needle, uint16_t needle_len,
         /* If scratch allocation failed, this is not recoverable:  other SPM
          * contexts may need this scratch space. */
         SCLogError("Unable to alloc scratch for Hyperscan, returned %d.", err);
+        hs_free_database(db);
         return -1;
     }
     global_thread_ctx->ctx = scratch;