diff --git a/window-tree.c b/window-tree.c
index 2f17a361..89b5e648 100644
--- a/window-tree.c
+++ b/window-tree.c
@@ -860,8 +860,10 @@ window_tree_search(__unused void *modedata, void *itemdata, const char *ss)
 		if (s == NULL || wl == NULL || wp == NULL)
 			break;
 		cmd = get_proc_name(wp->fd, wp->tty);
-		if (cmd == NULL || *cmd == '\0')
+		if (cmd == NULL || *cmd == '\0') {
+			free(cmd);
 			return (0);
+		}
 		retval = (strstr(cmd, ss) != NULL);
 		free(cmd);
 		return (retval);