diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 77e1377..100854a 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -379,6 +379,8 @@
 Extension Modules
 -----------------
 
+- Fix memory leak in ssl._ssl._test_decode_cert.
+
 - Issue #9422: Fix memory leak when re-initializing a struct.Struct object.
 
 - Issue #7900: The getgroups(2) system call on MacOSX behaves rather oddly
diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
index 6ed1a9f..4619cda 100644
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -964,6 +964,7 @@
     }
 
     retval = _decode_certificate(x, verbose);
+    X509_free(x);
 
   fail0: