diff --git a/src/ssl.c b/src/ssl.c
index 0d722f4ae0..05e7a79df3 100644
--- a/src/ssl.c
+++ b/src/ssl.c
@@ -18645,6 +18645,7 @@ static int SetStaticEphemeralKey(WOLFSSL_CTX* ctx,
 #ifndef NO_FILESYSTEM
     /* done with keyFile buffer */
     if (keyFile && keyBuf) {
+        ForceZero(keyBuf, keySz);
         XFREE(keyBuf, heap, DYNAMIC_TYPE_TMP_BUFFER);
     }
 #endif