diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 75c07d5bb4..8f8f5c359f 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -581,6 +581,7 @@ static void add_patterns_from_input(struct pattern_list *pl,
 				strbuf_to_cone_pattern(&line, pl);
 			}
 		}
+		strbuf_release(&line);
 	} else {
 		if (file) {
 			struct strbuf line = STRBUF_INIT;