diff --git a/cddl/contrib/opensolaris/lib/libzfs/common/libzfs_dataset.c b/cddl/contrib/opensolaris/lib/libzfs/common/libzfs_dataset.c
index 56cacb84fdc7..ae8417f9b267 100644
--- a/cddl/contrib/opensolaris/lib/libzfs/common/libzfs_dataset.c
+++ b/cddl/contrib/opensolaris/lib/libzfs/common/libzfs_dataset.c
@@ -3466,12 +3466,14 @@ int
 zfs_destroy_snaps_nvl(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, nvlist_t *snaps, boolean_t defer)
 {
 	int ret;
-	nvlist_t *errlist;
+	nvlist_t *errlist = NULL;
 
 	ret = lzc_destroy_snaps(snaps, defer, &errlist);
 
-	if (ret == 0)
+	if (ret == 0) {
+		nvlist_free(errlist);
 		return (0);
+	}
 
 	if (nvlist_empty(errlist)) {
 		char errbuf[1024];
@@ -3499,6 +3501,7 @@ zfs_destroy_snaps_nvl(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, nvlist_t *snaps, boolean_t defer)
 		}
 	}
 
+	nvlist_free(errlist);
 	return (ret);
 }