diff --git a/src/mem/mem_ctrl.cc b/src/mem/mem_ctrl.cc
index 8eec9c8eab..58ccd179e4 100644
--- a/src/mem/mem_ctrl.cc
+++ b/src/mem/mem_ctrl.cc
@@ -520,7 +520,6 @@ MemCtrl::processRespondEvent()
         accessAndRespond(mem_pkt->pkt, frontendLatency + backendLatency);
     }
 
-    delete respQueue.front();
     respQueue.pop_front();
 
     if (!respQueue.empty()) {
@@ -543,6 +542,8 @@ MemCtrl::processRespondEvent()
         }
     }
 
+    delete mem_pkt;
+
     // We have made a location in the queue available at this point,
     // so if there is a read that was forced to wait, retry now
     if (retryRdReq) {