diff --git a/lib/kadm5/password_quality.c b/lib/kadm5/password_quality.c
index 8b17a481f..e7304c4fa 100644
--- a/lib/kadm5/password_quality.c
+++ b/lib/kadm5/password_quality.c
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ external_passwd_quality (krb5_context context,
 	fclose(out);
 	fclose(error);
 	wait_for_process(child);
+	free(p);
 	return 1;
     }
     reply[strcspn(reply, "\n")] = '\0';