diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_tcp.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_tcp.c
index 6738295c5..ba91c6efa 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_tcp.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_tcp.c
@@ -1712,6 +1712,7 @@ nvme_tcp_ctrlr_create_qpair(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 
 	rc = nvme_qpair_init(qpair, qid, ctrlr, qprio, num_requests);
 	if (rc != 0) {
+		free(tqpair);
 		return NULL;
 	}