diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/modrdn.c b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/modrdn.c
index 21954bafbd..bb6dea16f3 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-bdb/modrdn.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-bdb/modrdn.c
@@ -542,6 +542,8 @@ retry:	/* transaction retry */
 		struct berval bv = {0, NULL};
 		dnNormalize( 0, NULL, NULL, &new_dn, &bv, op->o_tmpmemctx );
 		ber_dupbv( &new_ndn, &bv );
+		/* FIXME: why not call dnNormalize() w/o ctx? */
+		op->o_tmpfree( bv.bv_val, op->o_tmpmemctx );
 	}
 
 	Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_TRACE, LDAP_XSTRING(bdb_modrdn) ": new ndn=%s\n",