diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/streamutil.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/streamutil.c
index 52f1e559b7..e9a2739f8e 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/streamutil.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/streamutil.c
@@ -321,9 +321,12 @@ RetrieveWalSegSize(PGconn *conn)
 	{
 		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: WAL segment size could not be parsed\n"),
 				progname);
+		PQclear(res);
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	PQclear(res);
+
 	/* set the multiplier based on unit to convert xlog_val to bytes */
 	if (strcmp(xlog_unit, "MB") == 0)
 		multiplier = 1024 * 1024;
@@ -343,7 +346,6 @@ RetrieveWalSegSize(PGconn *conn)
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	PQclear(res);
 	return true;
 }