diff --git a/branch.c b/branch.c
index 08fa4094d2..44977ad0aa 100644
--- a/branch.c
+++ b/branch.c
@@ -738,6 +738,7 @@ static int submodule_create_branch(struct repository *r,
 
 	strbuf_release(&child_err);
 	strbuf_release(&out_buf);
+	free(out_prefix);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -794,7 +795,7 @@ void create_branches_recursively(struct repository *r, const char *name,
 	create_branch(r, name, start_committish, force, 0, reflog, quiet,
 		      BRANCH_TRACK_NEVER, dry_run);
 	if (dry_run)
-		return;
+		goto out;
 	/*
 	 * NEEDSWORK If tracking was set up in the superproject but not the
 	 * submodule, users might expect "git branch --recurse-submodules" to
@@ -815,8 +816,11 @@ void create_branches_recursively(struct repository *r, const char *name,
 			die(_("submodule '%s': cannot create branch '%s'"),
 			    submodule_entry_list.entries[i].submodule->name,
 			    name);
-		repo_clear(submodule_entry_list.entries[i].repo);
 	}
+
+out:
+	submodule_entry_list_release(&submodule_entry_list);
+	free(branch_point);
 }
 
 void remove_merge_branch_state(struct repository *r)
diff --git a/submodule-config.c b/submodule-config.c
index 471637a725..9c8c37b259 100644
--- a/submodule-config.c
+++ b/submodule-config.c
@@ -901,8 +901,9 @@ static void traverse_tree_submodules(struct repository *r,
 	struct submodule_tree_entry *st_entry;
 	struct name_entry name_entry;
 	char *tree_path = NULL;
+	char *tree_buf;
 
-	fill_tree_descriptor(r, &tree, treeish_name);
+	tree_buf = fill_tree_descriptor(r, &tree, treeish_name);
 	while (tree_entry(&tree, &name_entry)) {
 		if (prefix)
 			tree_path =
@@ -930,6 +931,8 @@ static void traverse_tree_submodules(struct repository *r,
 						 &name_entry.oid, out);
 		free(tree_path);
 	}
+
+	free(tree_buf);
 }
 
 void submodules_of_tree(struct repository *r,
@@ -943,6 +946,16 @@ void submodules_of_tree(struct repository *r,
 	traverse_tree_submodules(r, treeish_name, NULL, treeish_name, out);
 }
 
+void submodule_entry_list_release(struct submodule_entry_list *list)
+{
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < list->entry_nr; i++) {
+		free(list->entries[i].name_entry);
+		repo_clear(list->entries[i].repo);
+		free(list->entries[i].repo);
+	}
+	free(list->entries);
+}
+
 void submodule_free(struct repository *r)
 {
 	if (r->submodule_cache)
diff --git a/submodule-config.h b/submodule-config.h
index b6133af71b..f55d4e3b61 100644
--- a/submodule-config.h
+++ b/submodule-config.h
@@ -136,4 +136,7 @@ struct submodule_entry_list {
 void submodules_of_tree(struct repository *r,
 			const struct object_id *treeish_name,
 			struct submodule_entry_list *ret);
+
+void submodule_entry_list_release(struct submodule_entry_list *list);
+
 #endif /* SUBMODULE_CONFIG_H */
diff --git a/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh b/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
index fe72b24716..904eea7df5 100755
--- a/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
+++ b/t/t3207-branch-submodule.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ test_description='git branch submodule tests'
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-rebase.sh