diff --git a/ares_free_hostent.c b/ares_free_hostent.c
index d6cf51f4..d7667956 100644
--- a/ares_free_hostent.c
+++ b/ares_free_hostent.c
@@ -33,10 +33,8 @@ void ares_free_hostent(struct hostent *host)
   for (p = host->h_aliases; *p; p++)
     free(*p);
   free(host->h_aliases);
-  for(p = host->h_addr_list; *p; p++)
-  {
-    free(*p);
-  }
+  free(host->h_addr_list[0]); /* no matter if there is one or many entries,
+                                 there is only one malloc for all of them */
   free(host->h_addr_list);
   free(host);
 }