diff --git a/src/game/shared/econ/econ_item_system.cpp b/src/game/shared/econ/econ_item_system.cpp
index aa68d5744..91c5801f2 100644
--- a/src/game/shared/econ/econ_item_system.cpp
+++ b/src/game/shared/econ/econ_item_system.cpp
@@ -177,10 +177,14 @@ void CEconItemSystem::ReloadWhitelist( void )
 
 	// If we didn't find a file, we're done.
 	if ( !bFoundWhitelist )
+	{
+		pWhitelistKV->deleteThis();
 		return;
+	}
 
 	// Otherwise, go through the KVs and turn on the matching items.
 	Msg("Parsing item whitelist (default: %s)\n", bDefault ? "allowed" : "disallowed" );
+	KeyValues* ownerWhitelistKV = pWhitelistKV;
 	pWhitelistKV = pWhitelistKV->GetFirstSubKey();
 	while ( pWhitelistKV )
 	{
@@ -204,6 +208,8 @@ void CEconItemSystem::ReloadWhitelist( void )
 		pWhitelistKV = pWhitelistKV->GetNextKey();
 	}
 	Msg("Finished.\n");
+
+	ownerWhitelistKV->deleteThis();
 }
 
 #ifdef GAME_DLL