diff --git a/builtin/check-ref-format.c b/builtin/check-ref-format.c
index bc67d3f0a8..fd0e5f8683 100644
--- a/builtin/check-ref-format.c
+++ b/builtin/check-ref-format.c
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ int cmd_check_ref_format(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int normalize = 0;
 	int flags = 0;
 	const char *refname;
+	char *to_free = NULL;
+	int ret = 1;
 
 	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-h"))
 		usage(builtin_check_ref_format_usage);
@@ -81,11 +83,14 @@ int cmd_check_ref_format(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	refname = argv[i];
 	if (normalize)
-		refname = collapse_slashes(refname);
+		refname = to_free = collapse_slashes(refname);
 	if (check_refname_format(refname, flags))
-		return 1;
+		goto cleanup;
 	if (normalize)
 		printf("%s\n", refname);
 
-	return 0;
+	ret = 0;
+cleanup:
+	free(to_free);
+	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/t/t1402-check-ref-format.sh b/t/t1402-check-ref-format.sh
index cabc516ae9..5ed9d7318e 100755
--- a/t/t1402-check-ref-format.sh
+++ b/t/t1402-check-ref-format.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 test_description='Test git check-ref-format'
 
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 valid_ref() {