diff --git a/components/esp_http_client/esp_http_client.c b/components/esp_http_client/esp_http_client.c
index b66fa0e166..7df3e22615 100644
--- a/components/esp_http_client/esp_http_client.c
+++ b/components/esp_http_client/esp_http_client.c
@@ -522,6 +522,10 @@ static esp_err_t esp_http_client_prepare(esp_http_client_handle_t client)
         free(client->location);
         client->location = NULL;
     }
+    if (client->auth_header != NULL) {
+        free(client->auth_header);
+        client->auth_header = NULL;
+    }
     http_parser_init(client->parser, HTTP_RESPONSE);
     if (client->connection_info.username) {
         char *auth_response = NULL;