diff --git a/AFNetworking/AFImageRequestOperation.m b/AFNetworking/AFImageRequestOperation.m
index 1178198..94923c9 100644
--- a/AFNetworking/AFImageRequestOperation.m
+++ b/AFNetworking/AFImageRequestOperation.m
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ static UIImage * AFInflatedImageFromResponseWithDataAtScale(NSHTTPURLResponse *r
         imageRef = CGImageCreateCopy([image CGImage]);
 
         if (!imageRef) {
+            CGDataProviderRelease(dataProvider);
             return image;
         }
     }