diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 4c4db91af..71a173f47 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -666,8 +666,7 @@ static int config_parse(git_config *cfg_file)
 			break;
 
 		case '[': /* section header, new section begins */
-			if (current_section)
-				free(current_section);
+			free(current_section);
 			error = parse_section_header(cfg_file, &current_section, line);
 			break;