diff --git a/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp b/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
index e1cb7ca6a6976..a5aa531fe6f82 100644
--- a/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
+++ b/cmds/bootanimation/BootAnimation.cpp
@@ -1157,6 +1157,7 @@ BootAnimation::Animation* BootAnimation::loadAnimation(const String8& fn)
 
     parseAnimationDesc(*animation);
     if (!preloadZip(*animation)) {
+        releaseAnimation(animation);
         return nullptr;
     }