diff --git a/csync/src/csync_exclude.c b/csync/src/csync_exclude.c
index f0e9e8282..7302202a0 100644
--- a/csync/src/csync_exclude.c
+++ b/csync/src/csync_exclude.c
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ CSYNC_EXCLUDE_TYPE csync_excluded(CSYNC *ctx, const char *path, int filetype) {
 
       type = CSYNC_FILE_EXCLUDE_LIST;
       if (strlen(pattern) < 1) {
+	  SAFE_FREE(pattern_stored);
           continue;
       }
       /* Ecludes starting with ']' means it can be cleanup */