diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index d0eb9126b..20b2bbdfa 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ ver 0.20 (not yet released)
   - drop the "file:///" prefix for absolute file paths
   - add range parameter to command "plchanges" and "plchangesposid"
   - send verbose error message to client
+* input
+  - curl: fix memory leak
 * tags
   - ape, ogg: drop support for non-standard tag "album artist"
     affected filetypes: vorbis, flac, opus & all files with ape2 tags
diff --git a/src/input/plugins/CurlInputPlugin.cxx b/src/input/plugins/CurlInputPlugin.cxx
index 9f754e9c5..a563ecc8e 100644
--- a/src/input/plugins/CurlInputPlugin.cxx
+++ b/src/input/plugins/CurlInputPlugin.cxx
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ struct CurlInputStream final : public AsyncInputStream {
 	struct curl_slist *request_headers;
 
 	/** the curl handles */
-	CURL *easy;
+	CURL *easy = nullptr;
 
 	/** error message provided by libcurl */
 	char error_buffer[CURL_ERROR_SIZE];
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ struct CurlInputStream final : public AsyncInputStream {
 				  CURL_RESUME_AT),
 		 request_headers(nullptr),
 		 icy(new IcyInputStream(this)) {
-		InitEasy();
 	}
 
 	~CurlInputStream();