diff --git a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
index 61b7c30315da882161c15ef52e110c97ad2a10cd..28c6a0fd3a86d041d3ce84d46d950e5514aaa30d 100644
--- a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
+++ b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
@@ -65,5 +65,6 @@ VALUE grpc_rb_byte_buffer_to_s(grpc_byte_buffer *buffer) {
                GPR_SLICE_LENGTH(next));
     gpr_slice_unref(next);
   }
+  grpc_byte_buffer_reader_destroy(&reader);
   return rb_string;
 }