diff --git a/src/detect-engine.c b/src/detect-engine.c
index 9763ae95bd..79fc15d30e 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine.c
@@ -854,6 +854,9 @@ static DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInitReal(int minimal, const char *prefix)
     de_ctx->id = detect_engine_ctx_id++;
     return de_ctx;
 error:
+    if (de_ctx != NULL) {
+        DetectEngineCtxFree(de_ctx);
+    }
     return NULL;
 
 }