diff --git a/src/barebox-state/backend_bucket_circular.c b/src/barebox-state/backend_bucket_circular.c
index aec17b3..f665c3b 100644
--- a/src/barebox-state/backend_bucket_circular.c
+++ b/src/barebox-state/backend_bucket_circular.c
@@ -177,7 +177,6 @@
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		dev_err(circ->dev, "Failed to read circular storage len %d, %d\n",
 			len, ret);
-		free(buf);
 		return ret;
 	}