diff --git a/scripts/recordmcount.c b/scripts/recordmcount.c
index cce12e1971d85..ec692af8ce9eb 100644
--- a/scripts/recordmcount.c
+++ b/scripts/recordmcount.c
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ static ssize_t uwrite(void const *const buf, size_t const count)
 {
 	size_t cnt = count;
 	off_t idx = 0;
+	void *p = NULL;
 
 	file_updated = 1;
 
@@ -109,7 +110,10 @@ static ssize_t uwrite(void const *const buf, size_t const count)
 		off_t aoffset = (file_ptr + count) - file_end;
 
 		if (aoffset > file_append_size) {
-			file_append = realloc(file_append, aoffset);
+			p = realloc(file_append, aoffset);
+			if (!p)
+				free(file_append);
+			file_append = p;
 			file_append_size = aoffset;
 		}
 		if (!file_append) {