diff --git a/src/nano.c b/src/nano.c
index e1d6789720e80a8da0a2bab247522eac28a4c2cf..30e74370b1212be7559d326684eec7004cf013cd 100644
--- a/src/nano.c
+++ b/src/nano.c
@@ -1401,6 +1401,8 @@ void do_tab(void)
 	output[output_len] = '\0';
 
 	do_output(output, output_len, TRUE);
+
+	free(output);
     } else {
 #endif
 	do_output("\t", 1, TRUE);