diff --git a/src/backend/libpq/auth.c b/src/backend/libpq/auth.c
index b2b0b83a97..945a0d370c 100644
--- a/src/backend/libpq/auth.c
+++ b/src/backend/libpq/auth.c
@@ -2566,7 +2566,8 @@ CheckLDAPAuth(Port *port)
 				return STATUS_ERROR;
 			}
 		}
-
+ 
+		search_message = NULL;
 		/*
 		 * Bind with a pre-defined username/password (if available) for
 		 * searching. If none is specified, this turns into an anonymous bind.
@@ -2610,6 +2611,8 @@ CheckLDAPAuth(Port *port)
 							filter, server_name, ldap_err2string(r)),
 					 errdetail_for_ldap(ldap)));
 			ldap_unbind(ldap);
+			if (search_message != NULL)
+				ldap_msgfree(search_message);
 			pfree(passwd);
 			pfree(filter);
 			return STATUS_ERROR;