diff --git a/libs/ardour/audiosource.cc b/libs/ardour/audiosource.cc
index 0c820eed4d..0eb31c38b2 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/audiosource.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/audiosource.cc
@@ -443,6 +443,7 @@ AudioSource::read_peaks_with_fpp (PeakData *peaks, nframes_t npeaks, sframes_t s
 
 		if ((_peakfile = ::open (peakpath.c_str(), O_RDONLY, 0664)) < 0) {
 			error << string_compose(_("AudioSource: cannot open peakpath (b) \"%1\" (%2)"), peakpath, strerror (errno)) << endmsg;
+			delete [] staging;
 			return 0;
 		}