diff --git a/apps/apps.c b/apps/apps.c
index 666a7a7000df0bcf608bf9364ff9e89b93181788..dc89fc0a811408441b837886ca73082d4dc271af 100644
--- a/apps/apps.c
+++ b/apps/apps.c
@@ -1242,6 +1242,7 @@ ENGINE *setup_engine(BIO *err, const char *engine, int debug)
 			{
 			BIO_printf(err,"can't use that engine\n");
 			ERR_print_errors(err);
+			ENGINE_free(e);
 			return NULL;
 			}