diff --git a/sys/kern/link_elf.c b/sys/kern/link_elf.c
index a2ba84e339e..596089a6e87 100644
--- a/sys/kern/link_elf.c
+++ b/sys/kern/link_elf.c
@@ -671,7 +671,6 @@ link_elf_load_file(linker_class_t cls, const char* filename, linker_file_t* resu
 #ifdef SPARSE_MAPPING
     ef->object = vm_object_allocate(OBJT_DEFAULT, mapsize >> PAGE_SHIFT);
     if (ef->object == NULL) {
-	free(ef, M_LINKER);
 	error = ENOMEM;
 	goto out;
     }
diff --git a/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c b/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
index a2ba84e339e..596089a6e87 100644
--- a/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
+++ b/sys/kern/link_elf_obj.c
@@ -671,7 +671,6 @@ link_elf_load_file(linker_class_t cls, const char* filename, linker_file_t* resu
 #ifdef SPARSE_MAPPING
     ef->object = vm_object_allocate(OBJT_DEFAULT, mapsize >> PAGE_SHIFT);
     if (ef->object == NULL) {
-	free(ef, M_LINKER);
 	error = ENOMEM;
 	goto out;
     }