diff --git a/security/apparmor/include/policy.h b/security/apparmor/include/policy.h
index 0dcbf8cf1029..bb851654cb80 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/include/policy.h
+++ b/security/apparmor/include/policy.h
@@ -436,6 +436,26 @@ static inline void aa_put_profile(struct aa_profile *p)
 		kref_put(&p->label.count.count, aa_label_kref);
 }
 
+/**
+ * aa_put_unpublished_profile - put a profile that was never made visible
+ * @p: profile  (MAYBE NULL)
+ *
+ * A newly allocated profile and its proxy reference each other
+ * (proxy->label holds a label refcount). That cycle is normally broken
+ * when the profile is replaced or removed, which redirects the proxy.
+ * A profile that is discarded before being added to the policy tree
+ * never goes through either path, so break the cycle here, otherwise
+ * the profile, its proxy and its rawdata are leaked.
+ */
+static inline void aa_put_unpublished_profile(struct aa_profile *p)
+{
+	if (p && p->label.proxy) {
+		aa_put_proxy(p->label.proxy);
+		p->label.proxy = NULL;
+	}
+	aa_put_profile(p);
+}
+
 static inline int AUDIT_MODE(const struct aa_profile *profile)
 {
 	if (aa_g_audit != AUDIT_NORMAL)
diff --git a/security/apparmor/policy.c b/security/apparmor/policy.c
index bfe969b86957..63f7821b4dff 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/policy.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/policy.c
@@ -1462,6 +1462,9 @@ ssize_t aa_replace_profiles(struct aa_ns *policy_ns, struct aa_label *label,
 	}
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(ent, tmp, &lh, list) {
 		list_del_init(&ent->list);
+		/* new was never added to the policy tree */
+		aa_put_unpublished_profile(ent->new);
+		ent->new = NULL;
 		aa_load_ent_free(ent);
 	}
 
diff --git a/security/apparmor/policy_unpack.c b/security/apparmor/policy_unpack.c
index 7ebffb4ff74f..35dfa3b451f3 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/policy_unpack.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/policy_unpack.c
@@ -1822,13 +1822,15 @@ int aa_unpack(struct aa_loaddata *udata, struct list_head *lh,
 
 fail_profile:
 	kfree(ns_name);
-	aa_put_profile(profile);
+	aa_put_unpublished_profile(profile);
 
 fail:
 	if (compressed_data)
 		kvfree(compressed_data);
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(ent, tmp, lh, list) {
 		list_del_init(&ent->list);
+		aa_put_unpublished_profile(ent->new);
+		ent->new = NULL;
 		aa_load_ent_free(ent);
 	}