diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/sd-journal.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/sd-journal.c
index efaa2bf501..28a6e31a9f 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/sd-journal.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-journal/sd-journal.c
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ static void match_free_if_empty(Match *m) {
 }
 
 _public_ int sd_journal_add_match(sd_journal *j, const void *data, size_t size) {
-        Match *l3, *l4, *add_here = NULL, *m;
+        Match *l3, *l4, *add_here = NULL, *m = NULL;
         uint64_t hash;
 
         assert_return(j, -EINVAL);
@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ _public_ int sd_journal_add_match(sd_journal *j, const void *data, size_t size)
         return 0;
 
 fail:
+        match_free(m);
         match_free_if_empty(add_here);
         match_free_if_empty(j->level2);
         match_free_if_empty(j->level1);