diff --git a/src/nvim/eval.c b/src/nvim/eval.c
index cee565b2e4..d1359dccb0 100644
--- a/src/nvim/eval.c
+++ b/src/nvim/eval.c
@@ -5233,9 +5233,7 @@ static int eval_dict(char **arg, typval_T *rettv, evalarg_T *const evalarg, bool
 
     *arg = skipwhite(*arg + 1);
     if (eval1(arg, &tv, evalarg) == FAIL) {  // Recursive!
-      if (evaluate) {
-        tv_clear(&tvkey);
-      }
+      tv_clear(&tvkey);
       goto failret;
     }
     if (evaluate) {
diff --git a/test/old/testdir/test_listdict.vim b/test/old/testdir/test_listdict.vim
index 678734dafb..8f99bc8643 100644
--- a/test/old/testdir/test_listdict.vim
+++ b/test/old/testdir/test_listdict.vim
@@ -560,6 +560,8 @@ func Test_dict_literal_keys()
   " why *{} cannot be used for a literal dictionary
   let blue = 'blue'
   call assert_equal('6', trim(execute('echo 2 *{blue: 3}.blue')))
+
+  call assert_fails('eval 1 || #{a:', 'E15:') " used to leak
 endfunc
 
 " Nasty: deepcopy() dict that refers to itself (fails when noref used)