diff --git a/usr.sbin/rpki-client/filemode.c b/usr.sbin/rpki-client/filemode.c
index f3e1edd765b..d4410356033 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/rpki-client/filemode.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/rpki-client/filemode.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$OpenBSD: filemode.c,v 1.81 2026/02/03 16:21:37 tb Exp $ */
+/*	$OpenBSD: filemode.c,v 1.82 2026/02/15 17:55:14 job Exp $ */
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2019 Claudio Jeker <claudio@openbsd.org>
  * Copyright (c) 2019 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@bsd.lv>
@@ -457,13 +457,17 @@ proc_parser_file(char *file, unsigned char *in_buf, size_t len)
 	}
 
 	if (rtype_from_file_extension(file) == RTYPE_GZ) {
+		unsigned char *full_buf = NULL;
 		size_t full_len;
 		char *gz_ext;
 
-		if ((buf = inflate_buffer(buf, len, &full_len)) == NULL) {
+		if ((full_buf = inflate_buffer(buf, len, &full_len)) == NULL) {
 			warnx("%s: gzip decompression failed", file);
 			goto out;
 		}
+		if (buf != in_buf)
+			free(buf);
+		buf = full_buf;
 		len = full_len;
 
 		/* zap trailing .gz */