diff --git a/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp b/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
index e1cb7ca6a6976..459520a3eb277 100644
--- a/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
+++ b/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
@@ -1157,10 +1157,10 @@ BootAnimation::Animation* BootAnimation::loadAnimation(const String8& fn)
 
     parseAnimationDesc(*animation);
     if (!preloadZip(*animation)) {
+        releaseAnimation(animation);
         return nullptr;
     }
 
-
     mLoadedFiles.remove(fn);
     return animation;
 }