diff --git a/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c b/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
index a9b8b3b..8ec3ad5 100644
--- a/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
+++ b/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
@@ -996,9 +996,7 @@ static Opentelemetry__Proto__Trace__V1__ScopeSpans **set_scope_spans(struct ctra
             if (scope_span_index > 0) {
                 destroy_scope_spans(scope_spans, scope_span_index - 1);
             }
-
-            free(scope_spans);
-
+            /* note: scope_spans is freed inside destroy_scope_spans() */
             return NULL;
         }