diff --git a/components/pngcomponents/source/PngImageList.pas b/components/pngcomponents/source/PngImageList.pas
index b10c5304..bc932870 100644
--- a/components/pngcomponents/source/PngImageList.pas
+++ b/components/pngcomponents/source/PngImageList.pas
@@ -1346,6 +1346,6 @@ end;
 initialization
 
 finalization
-  MethodPatches.Free;
+  FreeAndNil(MethodPatches);
 
 end.