diff --git a/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c b/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
index 8f0c81e..a7c12e3 100644
--- a/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
+++ b/src/ctr_encode_opentelemetry.c
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@
 #include <ctraces/ctraces.h>
 #include <fluent-otel-proto/fluent-otel.h>
 
+static void destroy_scope_spans(Opentelemetry__Proto__Trace__V1__ScopeSpans **scope_spans,
+                         size_t count);
+
 static inline Opentelemetry__Proto__Common__V1__AnyValue *ctr_variant_to_otlp_any_value(struct cfl_variant *value);
 static inline Opentelemetry__Proto__Common__V1__KeyValue *ctr_variant_kvpair_to_otlp_kvpair(struct cfl_kvpair *input_pair);
 static inline Opentelemetry__Proto__Common__V1__AnyValue *ctr_variant_kvlist_to_otlp_any_value(struct cfl_variant *value);
@@ -976,6 +979,12 @@ static Opentelemetry__Proto__Trace__V1__ScopeSpans **set_scope_spans(struct ctra
 
         otel_scope_span = initialize_scope_span();
         if (!otel_scope_span) {
+            if (scope_span_index > 0) {
+                destroy_scope_spans(scope_spans, scope_span_index - 1);
+            }
+
+            free(scope_spans);
+
             return NULL;
         }