diff --git a/wolfcrypt/src/evp.c b/wolfcrypt/src/evp.c
index 477179b4b..1925b23ef 100644
--- a/wolfcrypt/src/evp.c
+++ b/wolfcrypt/src/evp.c
@@ -9496,7 +9496,8 @@ WOLFSSL_EVP_PKEY* wolfSSL_EVP_PKEY_new_ex(void* heap)
         ret = wc_InitRng(&pkey->rng);
 #endif
         if (ret != 0){
-            wolfSSL_EVP_PKEY_free(pkey);
+            /* Free directly since mutex for ref count not set yet */
+            XFREE(pkey, heap, DYNAMIC_TYPE_PUBLIC_KEY);
             WOLFSSL_MSG("Issue initializing RNG");
             return NULL;
         }