diff --git a/CRM/Contact/BAO/Contact.php b/CRM/Contact/BAO/Contact.php
index 46509d248949..e262cff88aeb 100644
--- a/CRM/Contact/BAO/Contact.php
+++ b/CRM/Contact/BAO/Contact.php
@@ -1000,10 +1000,6 @@ public static function deleteContact($id, $restore = FALSE, $skipUndelete = FALS
       CRM_Utils_Hook::post('delete', $contactType, $contact->id, $contact);
     }
 
-    // also reset the DB_DO global array so we can reuse the memory
-    // http://issues.civicrm.org/jira/browse/CRM-4387
-    CRM_Core_DAO::freeResult();
-
     return TRUE;
   }
 
diff --git a/CRM/Contact/Import/Parser.php b/CRM/Contact/Import/Parser.php
index 6085e8a5a038..dbb465905dfe 100644
--- a/CRM/Contact/Import/Parser.php
+++ b/CRM/Contact/Import/Parser.php
@@ -275,9 +275,6 @@ public function run(
         break;
       }
 
-      // clean up memory from dao's
-      CRM_Core_DAO::freeResult();
-
       // see if we've hit our timeout yet
       /* if ( $the_thing_with_the_stuff ) {
       do_something( );
diff --git a/CRM/Core/BAO/RecurringEntity.php b/CRM/Core/BAO/RecurringEntity.php
index a41d9367a73f..04c4b273bd68 100644
--- a/CRM/Core/BAO/RecurringEntity.php
+++ b/CRM/Core/BAO/RecurringEntity.php
@@ -660,7 +660,6 @@ static public function triggerUpdate($event) {
         }
 
         $updateDAO = CRM_Core_DAO::cascadeUpdate($daoName, $obj->id, $entityID, $skipData);
-        CRM_Core_DAO::freeResult();
       }
       else {
         CRM_Core_Error::fatal("DAO Mapper missing for $entityTable.");
diff --git a/CRM/Core/DAO.php b/CRM/Core/DAO.php
index 5ab5d76d529e..6a3ee88bdbd7 100644
--- a/CRM/Core/DAO.php
+++ b/CRM/Core/DAO.php
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ public function __construct() {
     $this->__table = $this->getTableName();
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Class destructor.
+   */
+  public function __destruct() {
+    $this->free();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Empty definition for virtual function.
    */
diff --git a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
index 12c3903d8c28..4acc24eb5d40 100644
--- a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
+++ b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
@@ -1404,7 +1404,6 @@ public static function getRowsElementsAndInfo($mainId, $otherId, $checkPermissio
     $otherTree = CRM_Core_BAO_CustomGroup::getTree($main['contact_type'], NULL, $otherId, -1,
       CRM_Utils_Array::value('contact_sub_type', $other), NULL, TRUE, NULL, TRUE, $checkPermissions
     );
-    CRM_Core_DAO::freeResult();
 
     foreach ($otherTree as $gid => $group) {
       $foundField = FALSE;
@@ -2256,8 +2255,6 @@ protected static function dedupePair(&$migrationInfo, &$resultStats, &$deletedCo
       // pair may have been flipped, so make sure we delete using both orders
       CRM_Core_BAO_PrevNextCache::deletePair($mainId, $otherId, $cacheKeyString, TRUE);
     }
-
-    CRM_Core_DAO::freeResult();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/api/v3/EntityTagTest.php b/tests/phpunit/api/v3/EntityTagTest.php
index 714c910d56e0..c788802ad083 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/api/v3/EntityTagTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/api/v3/EntityTagTest.php
@@ -139,6 +139,19 @@ public function testIndividualEntityTagGet() {
     $this->callAPIAndDocument('entity_tag', 'get', $paramsEntity, __FUNCTION__, __FILE__);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Test memory usage does not escalate crazily.
+   */
+  public function testMemoryLeak() {
+    $start = memory_get_usage();
+    for ($i = 0; $i < 100; $i++) {
+      $this->callAPISuccess('EntityTag', 'get', []);
+      $memUsage = memory_get_usage();
+    }
+    $max = $start + 2000000;
+    $this->assertTrue($memUsage < $max, "mem usage ( $memUsage ) should be less than $max (start was $start) ");
+  }
+
   /**
    * Test tag can be added to a household.
    */