diff --git a/src/vnode/src/vnodeMain.c b/src/vnode/src/vnodeMain.c
index cc92c0338989718f9ac134eda80b5c96c8255ba1..c2a0e4189f72403c25636f5417505acde35c93b5 100644
--- a/src/vnode/src/vnodeMain.c
+++ b/src/vnode/src/vnodeMain.c
@@ -552,6 +552,7 @@ static int32_t vnodeReadCfg(SVnodeObj *pVnode) {
   int   len = fread(content, 1, maxLen, fp);
   if (len <= 0) {
     vError("vgId:%d, failed to read vnode cfg, content is null", pVnode->vgId);
+    free(content);
     return errno;
   }