diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
index e44fa07..1131bfa 100644
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -978,6 +978,7 @@
     }
 
     retval = _decode_certificate(x, verbose);
+    X509_free(x);
 
   fail0: