diff --git a/servers/slapd/add.c b/servers/slapd/add.c
index 17505c90a1..d4f6b6b914 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/add.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/add.c
@@ -425,6 +425,10 @@ slap_mods2entry(
 			AC_MEMCPY( &attr->a_vals[i], mods->sml_values,
 				sizeof( struct berval ) * j );
 
+			/* trim the mods array */
+			ch_free( mods->sml_values );
+			mods->sml_values = NULL;
+
 			if( mods->sml_nvalues ) {
 				attr->a_nvals = ch_realloc( attr->a_nvals,
 					sizeof( struct berval ) * (i+j) );
@@ -432,6 +436,10 @@ slap_mods2entry(
 				AC_MEMCPY( &attr->a_nvals[i], mods->sml_nvalues,
 					sizeof( struct berval ) * j );
 
+				/* trim the mods array */
+				ch_free( mods->sml_nvalues );
+				mods->sml_nvalues = NULL;
+
 			} else {
 				attr->a_nvals = attr->a_vals;
 			}