diff --git a/sound/soc/soc-topology.c b/sound/soc/soc-topology.c
index 107ba3ed5440d1f2c50b32d96d5a6b3ad3fa3a63..953517a732983cc52d7d2084c286a371fcf64c33 100644
--- a/sound/soc/soc-topology.c
+++ b/sound/soc/soc-topology.c
@@ -2376,8 +2376,11 @@ static int soc_tplg_link_elems_load(struct soc_tplg *tplg,
 		}
 
 		ret = soc_tplg_link_config(tplg, _link);
-		if (ret < 0)
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			if (!abi_match)
+				kfree(_link);
 			return ret;
+		}
 
 		/* offset by version-specific struct size and
 		 * real priv data size