diff --git a/tools/lib/traceevent/parse-filter.c b/tools/lib/traceevent/parse-filter.c
index f3cbf86e51ac..20eed719542e 100644
--- a/tools/lib/traceevent/parse-filter.c
+++ b/tools/lib/traceevent/parse-filter.c
@@ -1228,8 +1228,10 @@ filter_event(struct tep_event_filter *filter, struct tep_event *event,
 	}
 
 	filter_type = add_filter_type(filter, event->id);
-	if (filter_type == NULL)
+	if (filter_type == NULL) {
+		free_arg(arg);
 		return TEP_ERRNO__MEM_ALLOC_FAILED;
+	}
 
 	if (filter_type->filter)
 		free_arg(filter_type->filter);