diff --git a/src/slurmctld/controller.c b/src/slurmctld/controller.c
index 603845141409fc0cabd6b7a352cbda18c52bc1d0..7338c21726a40eb892dbe1230e3ea1e1c78d0fd0 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/controller.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/controller.c
@@ -668,6 +668,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	switch_fini();
 
 	/* purge remaining data structures */
+	license_free();
 	slurm_cred_ctx_destroy(slurmctld_config.cred_ctx);
 	slurm_crypto_fini();	/* must be after ctx_destroy */
 	slurm_conf_destroy();