diff --git a/main/config.c b/main/config.c
index d9d303c6c6..50979b4313 100644
--- a/main/config.c
+++ b/main/config.c
@@ -631,7 +631,6 @@ static int process_text_line(struct ast_config *cfg, struct ast_category **cat,
 				} else if (!strcasecmp(cur, "+")) {
 					*cat = category_get(cfg, catname, 1);
 					if (!(*cat)) {
-						ast_config_destroy(cfg);
 						if (newcat)
 							ast_category_destroy(newcat);
 						ast_log(LOG_WARNING, "Category addition requested, but category '%s' does not exist, line %d of %s\n", catname, lineno, configfile);