diff --git a/libretro-common/formats/libchdr/huffman.c b/libretro-common/formats/libchdr/huffman.c
index 8eafca01cd..09b3e62026 100644
--- a/libretro-common/formats/libchdr/huffman.c
+++ b/libretro-common/formats/libchdr/huffman.c
@@ -300,7 +300,10 @@ enum huffman_error huffman_import_tree_huffman(struct huffman_decoder* decoder,
 	/* assign canonical codes for all nodes based on their code lengths */
 	error = huffman_assign_canonical_codes(decoder);
 	if (error != HUFFERR_NONE)
+   {
+      delete_huffman_decoder(smallhuff);
 		return error;
+   }
 
 	/* build the lookup table */
 	huffman_build_lookup_table(decoder);