diff --git a/spine-cpp/spine-cpp/src/spine/SkeletonJson.cpp b/spine-cpp/spine-cpp/src/spine/SkeletonJson.cpp
index 3ac46564f..117fe55ee 100644
--- a/spine-cpp/spine-cpp/src/spine/SkeletonJson.cpp
+++ b/spine-cpp/spine-cpp/src/spine/SkeletonJson.cpp
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ SkeletonData *SkeletonJson::readSkeletonData(const char *json) {
 		if (!skeletonData->_version.startsWith(SPINE_VERSION_STRING)) {
 			char errorMsg[255];
 			snprintf(errorMsg, 255, "Skeleton version %s does not match runtime version %s", skeletonData->_version.buffer(), SPINE_VERSION_STRING);
+			delete skeletonData;
 			setError(NULL, errorMsg, "");
 			return NULL;
 		}