diff --git a/dlls/gameux/gamestatistics.c b/dlls/gameux/gamestatistics.c
index ecd518fabee..61df25e9bcc 100644
--- a/dlls/gameux/gamestatistics.c
+++ b/dlls/gameux/gamestatistics.c
@@ -1086,7 +1086,8 @@ static HRESULT STDMETHODCALLTYPE GameStatisticsMgrImpl_GetGameStatistics(
 {
     HRESULT hr;
     WCHAR lpApplicationId[49];
-    GameStatisticsImpl *statisticsImpl;
+    GameStatisticsImpl *statisticsImpl = NULL;
+    IGameStatistics *output_iface;
 
     TRACE("(%p, %s, 0x%x, %p, %p)\n", iface, debugstr_w(GDFBinaryPath), openType, pOpenResult, ppiStats);
 
@@ -1097,13 +1098,21 @@ static HRESULT STDMETHODCALLTYPE GameStatisticsMgrImpl_GetGameStatistics(
 
     if(SUCCEEDED(hr))
     {
-        *ppiStats = IGameStatistics_from_impl(statisticsImpl);
+        output_iface = IGameStatistics_from_impl(statisticsImpl);
         hr = GAMEUX_buildStatisticsFilePath(lpApplicationId, statisticsImpl->stats.sStatsFile);
     }
 
     if(SUCCEEDED(hr))
         hr = GAMEUX_loadGameStatistics(&statisticsImpl->stats, lpApplicationId, openType, pOpenResult);
 
+    if(SUCCEEDED(hr))
+        *ppiStats = output_iface;
+    else
+    {
+        HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, statisticsImpl);
+        *ppiStats = NULL;
+    }
+
     return hr;
 }
 
diff --git a/dlls/gameux/tests/gamestatistics.c b/dlls/gameux/tests/gamestatistics.c
index c49e693511b..5bae4c8fb3c 100644
--- a/dlls/gameux/tests/gamestatistics.c
+++ b/dlls/gameux/tests/gamestatistics.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ static void test_gamestatisticsmgr( void )
     WORD wMaxStatsPerCategory = 0, wMaxCategories = 0;
 
     IGameStatisticsMgr* gsm = NULL;
-    IGameStatistics* gs = NULL;
+    IGameStatistics* gs;
 
     hr = CoCreateInstance( &CLSID_GameStatistics, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, &IID_IGameStatisticsMgr, (LPVOID*)&gsm);
     ok(hr == S_OK, "IGameStatisticsMgr creating failed (result false)\n");
@@ -233,8 +233,10 @@ static void test_gamestatisticsmgr( void )
     /* test trying to create interface IGameStatistics using GetGameStatistics method */
 
     /* this should fail, cause statistics doesn't yet exists */
+    gs = (void *)0xdeadbeef;
     hr = IGameStatisticsMgr_GetGameStatistics(gsm, sExeName, GAMESTATS_OPEN_OPENONLY, &dwOpenResult, &gs);
     ok(hr == HRESULT_FROM_WIN32(ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND), "GetGameStatistics returned unexpected value: 0x%08x\n", hr);
+    ok(gs == NULL, "Expected output pointer to be NULL, got %p\n", gs);
 
     /* now, allow to create */
     hr = IGameStatisticsMgr_GetGameStatistics(gsm, sExeName, GAMESTATS_OPEN_OPENORCREATE, &dwOpenResult, &gs);