diff --git a/compat/rxml/rxml.c b/compat/rxml/rxml.c
index 2c4daec356..e00727c734 100644
--- a/compat/rxml/rxml.c
+++ b/compat/rxml/rxml.c
@@ -247,7 +247,6 @@ static struct rxml_node *rxml_parse_node(const char **ptr_)
 
       if (!closing_tag)
       {
-         free(closing_tag);
          goto error;
       }