diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index bb84525e665..a835f77b734 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -8333,6 +8333,7 @@ CheckTablespaceDirectory(void)
 					 errdetail("All directory entries in pg_tblspc/ should be symbolic links."),
 					 errhint("Remove those directories, or set allow_in_place_tablespaces to ON transiently to let recovery complete.")));
 	}
+	FreeDir(dir);
 }
 
 /*