diff --git a/opal/mca/base/mca_base_component_repository.c b/opal/mca/base/mca_base_component_repository.c
index b2eb70bf58..47129035e4 100644
--- a/opal/mca/base/mca_base_component_repository.c
+++ b/opal/mca/base/mca_base_component_repository.c
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2008-2015 Cisco Systems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2015      Los Alamos National Security, LLC. All rights
  *                         reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015      Research Organization for Information Science
+ *                         and Technology (RIST). All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  * 
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -91,6 +93,7 @@ static int process_repository_item (const char *filename, void *data)
                   STRINGIFY(MCA_BASE_MAX_COMPONENT_NAME_LEN) "s", type, name);
     if (0 > ret) {
         /* does not patch the expected template. skip */
+        free(base);
         return OPAL_SUCCESS;
     }