diff --git a/.github/workflows/sshd-test.yml b/.github/workflows/sshd-test.yml
index a58db6ab..13d33710 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sshd-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sshd-test.yml
@@ -97,3 +97,12 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           git log -3
           sudo ./run_all_sshd_tests.sh
+
+      # could use optimization with caching
+      - name: Test memory after close down
+        working-directory: ./wolfssh/
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install valgrind
+          touch sshd_config.txt
+          ./configure --enable-all LDFLAGS="-L${{ github.workspace }}/build-dir/lib" CPPFLAGS="-I${{ github.workspace }}/build-dir/include -DWOLFSSH_NO_FPKI -DWOLFSSH_NO_SFTP_TIMEOUT -DWOLFSSH_MAX_SFTP_RW=4000000 -DMAX_PATH_SZ=120" --enable-static --disable-shared && make
+          sudo timeout --preserve-status -s 2 5 valgrind --error-exitcode=1 --leak-check=full ./apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd -D -f sshd_config -h ./keys/server-key.pem -d -p 22222
diff --git a/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c b/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
index 5dad0343..9ea7ed77 100644
--- a/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
+++ b/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
@@ -2468,9 +2468,11 @@ static int StartSSHD(int argc, char** argv)
             struct sockaddr_in6 clientAddr;
             socklen_t           clientAddrSz = sizeof(clientAddr);
 #endif
-            conn = (WOLFSSHD_CONNECTION*)WMALLOC(sizeof(WOLFSSHD_CONNECTION), NULL, DYNTYPE_SSHD);
+            conn = (WOLFSSHD_CONNECTION*)WMALLOC(sizeof(WOLFSSHD_CONNECTION),
+                NULL, DYNTYPE_SSHD);
             if (conn == NULL) {
-                wolfSSH_Log(WS_LOG_ERROR, "[SSHD] Failed to malloc memory for connection");
+                wolfSSH_Log(WS_LOG_ERROR,
+                    "[SSHD] Failed to malloc memory for connection");
                 break;
             }
 
@@ -2536,9 +2538,13 @@ static int StartSSHD(int argc, char** argv)
                 }
                 ret = NewConnection(conn);
             }
+            else {
+                XFREE(conn, NULL, DYNTYPE_SSHD);
+            }
 #ifdef _WIN32
             /* check if service has been shutdown */
-            if (isDaemon && WaitForSingleObject(serviceStop, 0) == WAIT_OBJECT_0) {
+            if (isDaemon && WaitForSingleObject(serviceStop, 0) ==
+                    WAIT_OBJECT_0) {
                 quit = 1;
             }
 #endif