diff --git a/src/readelf.c b/src/readelf.c
index 0e0b05c44edf64e6395effbdcd8207207ac28d2d..77fcd6d682d3c27298b261f187c5294d638b3a70 100644
--- a/src/readelf.c
+++ b/src/readelf.c
@@ -3248,6 +3248,7 @@ print_hash_info (Ebl *ebl, Elf_Scn *scn, GElf_Shdr *shdr, size_t shstrndx,
     {
       error (0, 0, _("invalid sh_link value in section %zu"),
 	     elf_ndxscn (scn));
+      free (counts);
       return;
     }