diff --git a/tree-walk.c b/tree-walk.c
index 02e2aed7737207225f1b96eed774a1b75dd6d8d9..a0fe88c55d2a5063c2367fcff1999d959b6d4909 100644
--- a/tree-walk.c
+++ b/tree-walk.c
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ int get_tree_entry(const unsigned char *tree_sha1, const char *name, unsigned ch
 
 	if (name[0] == '\0') {
 		hashcpy(sha1, root);
+		free(tree);
 		return 0;
 	}