diff --git a/src/sacctmgr/common.c b/src/sacctmgr/common.c
index a7c53644e6bf2e17526b08c2c1cd7fd9d59b335e..77dd589aaa90ae08d6c30d95b74a8ca6fef7dfc0 100644
--- a/src/sacctmgr/common.c
+++ b/src/sacctmgr/common.c
@@ -994,6 +994,7 @@ extern int sacctmgr_remove_qos_usage(slurmdb_qos_cond_t *qos_cond)
 			if (!rec) {
 				error("Failed to find QOS %s", qos_name);
 				rc = SLURM_ERROR;
+				slurmdb_destroy_update_object(update_obj);
 				goto end_it;
 			}
 			list_append(update_obj->objects, rec);
@@ -1019,7 +1020,6 @@ end_it:
 	FREE_NULL_LIST(update_list);
 	FREE_NULL_LIST(local_qos_list);
 	xfree(cluster_name);
-	slurmdb_destroy_update_object(update_obj);
 
 	return rc;
 }