diff --git a/cde/lib/DtHelp/HelpUtil.c b/cde/lib/DtHelp/HelpUtil.c
index cce5d19b7..5aaec504b 100644
--- a/cde/lib/DtHelp/HelpUtil.c
+++ b/cde/lib/DtHelp/HelpUtil.c
@@ -883,6 +883,7 @@ int _DtHelpFilterExecCmd(
    if (False == useQueryDialog)
    {
       *ret_filteredCmdStr = NULL;
+      XtFree(filteredCmdStr);
       return -1;                          /* RETURN error */
    }