diff --git a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
index ce7d642..9b85e7f 100644
--- a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
+++ b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@
             _sendback_result(result_queue, call_item.work_id, exception=exc)
         else:
             _sendback_result(result_queue, call_item.work_id, result=r)
+            del r
 
         # Liberate the resource as soon as possible, to avoid holding onto
         # open files or shared memory that is not needed anymore