diff --git a/common/spl/spl_fit.c b/common/spl/spl_fit.c
index 321954a1547..b3824af475f 100644
--- a/common/spl/spl_fit.c
+++ b/common/spl/spl_fit.c
@@ -703,13 +703,51 @@ static int spl_simple_fit_read(struct spl_fit_info *ctx,
 	 */
 	size = get_aligned_image_size(info, size, 0);
 	buf = board_spl_fit_buffer_addr(size, size, 1);
+	if (!buf) {
+		/*
+		 * We assume that none of the board will ever use 0x0 as a
+		 * valid load address. Theoretically some board could use it,
+		 * but this is extremely unlikely.
+		 */
+		return -EIO;
+	}
 
 	count = info->read(info, offset, size, buf);
+	if (!count) {
+		/*
+		 * FIT could not be read. This means we should free the
+		 * memory allocated by board_spl_fit_buffer_addr().
+		 * Unfortunately, we don't know what memory allocation
+		 * mechanism was used:
+		 *   - For the SPL_SYS_MALLOC_SIMPLE case nothing could
+		 *     be done. The memory just could not be freed.
+		 *   - For statically allocated memory buffer we can try
+		 *     to reuse previously allocated memory (example:
+		 *     board_spl_fit_buffer_addr() function from the
+		 *     file test/image/spl_load.c).
+		 *   - For normall malloc() -- memory leak can't be easily
+		 *     avoided. To somehow reduce memory consumption the
+		 *     next calls of board_spl_fit_buffer_addr() could
+		 *     reallocate previously allocated buffer and use
+		 *     them again. This is somethat similar to the approach
+		 *     used for statically allocated buffer.
+		 *
+		 * Please note:
+		 *   - FIT images with data placed outside of the FIT
+		 *     structure will cause small memory leak (several
+		 *     kilobytes),
+		 *   - FIT images with data placed inside to the FIT
+		 *     structure may cause huge memory leak (up to
+		 *     several megabytes). Do NOT use such images!
+		 */
+		return -EIO;
+	}
+
 	ctx->fit = buf;
 	debug("fit read offset %lx, size=%lu, dst=%p, count=%lu\n",
 	      offset, size, buf, count);
 
-	return (count == 0) ? -EIO : 0;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int spl_simple_fit_parse(struct spl_fit_info *ctx)