diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c b/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
index 51499c20da01..865f321d729b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-mem.c
@@ -372,6 +372,7 @@ static int report_events(int argc, const char **argv, struct perf_mem *mem)
 		rep_argv[i] = argv[j];
 
 	ret = cmd_report(i, rep_argv);
+	free(new_sort_order);
 	free(rep_argv);
 	return ret;
 }