diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/logging/logAsyncWriter.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/logging/logAsyncWriter.cpp
index f46fc1c4ec8..10605af64a7 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/logging/logAsyncWriter.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/logging/logAsyncWriter.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ void AsyncLogWriter::enqueue_locked(const AsyncLogMessage& msg) {
     uint32_t* counter = _stats.add_if_absent(msg.output(), 0, &p_created);
     *counter = *counter + 1;
     // drop the enqueueing message.
+    os::free(msg.message());
     return;
   }