diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
index 9879b54d5..0d452bcd0 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_ctrlr.c
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ static int nvme_ctrlr_set_intel_support_log_pages(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 	status = malloc(sizeof(*status));
 	if (!status) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate status tracker\n");
+		spdk_free(log_page_directory);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
@@ -1312,6 +1313,7 @@ nvme_ctrlr_identify_active_ns(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr)
 	status = malloc(sizeof(*status));
 	if (!status) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate status tracker\n");
+		spdk_free(new_ns_list);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
@@ -2989,7 +2991,7 @@ spdk_nvme_ctrlr_create_ns(struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr, struct spdk_nvme_ns_dat
 	status = malloc(sizeof(*status));
 	if (!status) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate status tracker\n");
-		return -ENOMEM;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	res = nvme_ctrlr_cmd_create_ns(ctrlr, payload, nvme_completion_poll_cb, status);
diff --git a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
index cc6afcd3f..0ec30ba5c 100644
--- a/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
+++ b/lib/nvme/nvme_fabric.c
@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ nvme_fabric_ctrlr_scan(struct spdk_nvme_probe_ctx *probe_ctx,
 	status = malloc(sizeof(*status));
 	if (!status) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate status tracker\n");
+		nvme_ctrlr_destruct(discovery_ctrlr);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
@@ -306,12 +307,14 @@ nvme_fabric_ctrlr_scan(struct spdk_nvme_probe_ctx *probe_ctx,
 				     nvme_completion_poll_cb, status);
 	if (rc != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to identify cdata\n");
+		nvme_ctrlr_destruct(discovery_ctrlr);
 		free(status);
 		return rc;
 	}
 
 	if (spdk_nvme_wait_for_completion(discovery_ctrlr->adminq, status)) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("nvme_identify_controller failed!\n");
+		nvme_ctrlr_destruct(discovery_ctrlr);
 		if (!status->timed_out) {
 			free(status);
 		}
@@ -413,6 +416,7 @@ nvme_fabric_qpair_connect(struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint32_t num_entries)
 	status = malloc(sizeof(*status));
 	if (!status) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Failed to allocate status tracker\n");
+		spdk_free(nvmf_data);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}