diff --git a/ext/intl/uchar/uchar.c b/ext/intl/uchar/uchar.c
index 4d3d424df798..f194e0e0b931 100644
--- a/ext/intl/uchar/uchar.c
+++ b/ext/intl/uchar/uchar.c
@@ -525,8 +525,8 @@ IC_METHOD(getFC_NFKC_Closure) {
 
 	error = U_ZERO_ERROR;
 	u8str = intl_convert_utf16_to_utf8(closure, closure_len, &error);
-	INTL_CHECK_STATUS(error, "Failed converting output to UTF8");
 	efree(closure);
+	INTL_CHECK_STATUS(error, "Failed converting output to UTF8");
 	RETVAL_NEW_STR(u8str);
 }
 /* }}} */