diff --git a/shell.c b/shell.c
index 43024b089..67f61c307 100644
--- a/shell.c
+++ b/shell.c
@@ -1138,8 +1138,11 @@ xmllintShell(xmlDoc *doc, const char *filename, FILE * output)
             command[i++] = *cur++;
         }
         command[i] = 0;
-        if (i == 0)
+        if (i == 0) {
+            free(cmdline);
+            cmdline = NULL;
             continue;
+        }
 
         /*
          * Parse the argument