diff --git a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
index 593c824fb822..fbaeffe1dc70 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
@@ -2598,6 +2598,8 @@ static int namespace_create (kvs_ctx_t *ctx, const char *namespace,
         goto cleanup_remove_root;
     }
 
+    json_decref (rootdir);
+    free (data);
     return 0;
 
 cleanup_remove_root: