diff --git a/examples/nvme/hotplug/hotplug.c b/examples/nvme/hotplug/hotplug.c
index 5b16279a6..5d76a9128 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/hotplug/hotplug.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/hotplug/hotplug.c
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ alloc_task(struct dev_ctx *dev)
 
 	task->buf = spdk_dma_zmalloc(g_io_size_bytes, 0x200, NULL);
 	if (task->buf == NULL) {
+		free(task);
 		return NULL;
 	}