diff --git a/io/task.c b/io/task.c
index 60bf1a94d573f264bd0681ee10202c9ebac2a48f..3ce556017c1167a4a03208af522de0ec5c2493bc 100644
--- a/io/task.c
+++ b/io/task.c
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ bool qio_task_propagate_error(QIOTask *task,
 {
     if (task->err) {
         error_propagate(errp, task->err);
+        task->err = NULL;
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/test-io-task.c b/tests/test-io-task.c
index ff62272d5f1f872f598626c077b720cd108fafbb..141aa2c55d781b8a1e87ccebb757af74ec3708eb 100644
--- a/tests/test-io-task.c
+++ b/tests/test-io-task.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ static void test_task_failure(void)
     g_assert(data.source == obj);
     g_assert(data.err == err);
     g_assert(data.freed == false);
-
+    error_free(data.err);
 }
 
 
@@ -238,6 +238,8 @@ static void test_task_thread_failure(void)
     g_assert(data.source == obj);
     g_assert(data.err != NULL);
 
+    error_free(data.err);
+
     self = g_thread_self();
 
     /* Make sure the test_task_thread_worker actually got