diff --git a/cmd-run-shell.c b/cmd-run-shell.c
index aaa310b9..f805c7ae 100644
--- a/cmd-run-shell.c
+++ b/cmd-run-shell.c
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ cmd_run_shell_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmd_q *cmdq)
 	cmdq->references++;
 
 	job_run(shellcmd, cmd_run_shell_callback, cmd_run_shell_free, cdata);
+	free(shellcmd);
 
 	if (cdata->bflag)
 		return (CMD_RETURN_NORMAL);