diff --git a/src/output-json-alert.c b/src/output-json-alert.c
index 4e87615935..353d66f268 100644
--- a/src/output-json-alert.c
+++ b/src/output-json-alert.c
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ static TmEcode JsonAlertLogThreadDeinit(ThreadVars *t, void *data)
     }
 
     MemBufferFree(aft->json_buffer);
+    MemBufferFree(aft->payload_buffer);
 
     /* clear memory */
     memset(aft, 0, sizeof(JsonAlertLogThread));