diff --git a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
index 27a9805625..eece99ab1d 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c
@@ -2749,6 +2749,8 @@ freePGconn(PGconn *conn)
 		free(conn->events[i].name);
 	}
 
+	if (conn->client_encoding_initial)
+		free(conn->client_encoding_initial);
 	if (conn->events)
 		free(conn->events);
 	if (conn->pghost)