diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index d0f5c4702be..23482d77c98 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ static void clean_tracked_sparse_directories(struct repository *r)
 				item->string);
 		}
 
+		strvec_clear(&s);
+		clear_pathspec(&p);
 		dir_clear(&dir);
 	}