diff --git a/components/mdns/mdns.c b/components/mdns/mdns.c
index c77c9443f..1626ffaeb 100644
--- a/components/mdns/mdns.c
+++ b/components/mdns/mdns.c
@@ -3993,7 +3993,10 @@ static esp_err_t _mdns_service_task_start()
     if (!_mdns_service_task_handle) {
         xTaskCreatePinnedToCore(_mdns_service_task, "mdns", MDNS_SERVICE_STACK_DEPTH, NULL, 1, (TaskHandle_t * const)(&_mdns_service_task_handle), 0);
         if (!_mdns_service_task_handle) {
+            _mdns_stop_timer();
             MDNS_SERVICE_UNLOCK();
+            vSemaphoreDelete(_mdns_service_semaphore);
+            _mdns_service_semaphore = NULL;
             return ESP_FAIL;
         }
     }
@@ -4012,6 +4015,8 @@ static esp_err_t _mdns_service_task_stop()
     MDNS_SERVICE_LOCK();
     _mdns_stop_timer();
     MDNS_SERVICE_UNLOCK();
+    vSemaphoreDelete(_mdns_service_semaphore);
+    _mdns_service_semaphore = NULL;
     if (_mdns_service_task_handle) {
         mdns_action_t action;
         mdns_action_t * a = &action;