diff --git a/compile.c b/compile.c
index 14c0589fe1..a411e8d6f7 100644
--- a/compile.c
+++ b/compile.c
@@ -4327,6 +4327,7 @@ compile_keyword_arg(rb_iseq_t *iseq, LINK_ANCHOR *const ret,
                 rb_xmalloc_mul_add(len, sizeof(VALUE), sizeof(struct rb_callinfo_kwarg));
             VALUE *keywords = kw_arg->keywords;
             int i = 0;
+            kw_arg->references = 0;
             kw_arg->keyword_len = len;
 
             *kw_arg_ptr = kw_arg;
@@ -7275,6 +7276,7 @@ compile_case3(rb_iseq_t *iseq, LINK_ANCHOR *const ret, const NODE *const orig_no
             fin = NEW_LABEL(line);
 
             kw_arg = rb_xmalloc_mul_add(2, sizeof(VALUE), sizeof(struct rb_callinfo_kwarg));
+            kw_arg->references = 0;
             kw_arg->keyword_len = 2;
             kw_arg->keywords[0] = ID2SYM(rb_intern("matchee"));
             kw_arg->keywords[1] = ID2SYM(rb_intern("key"));
@@ -10469,6 +10471,7 @@ iseq_build_callinfo_from_hash(rb_iseq_t *iseq, VALUE op)
             size_t n = rb_callinfo_kwarg_bytes(len);
 
             kw_arg = xmalloc(n);
+            kw_arg->references = 0;
             kw_arg->keyword_len = len;
             for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
                 VALUE kw = RARRAY_AREF(vkw_arg, i);
@@ -11957,6 +11960,7 @@ ibf_load_ci_entries(const struct ibf_load *load,
             int kwlen = (int)ibf_load_small_value(load, &reading_pos);
             if (kwlen > 0) {
                 kwarg = rb_xmalloc_mul_add(kwlen, sizeof(VALUE), sizeof(struct rb_callinfo_kwarg));
+                kwarg->references = 0;
                 kwarg->keyword_len = kwlen;
                 for (int j=0; j<kwlen; j++) {
                     VALUE keyword = ibf_load_small_value(load, &reading_pos);
diff --git a/gc.c b/gc.c
index 2993e56a36..273207c4b7 100644
--- a/gc.c
+++ b/gc.c
@@ -3681,8 +3681,15 @@ obj_free(rb_objspace_t *objspace, VALUE obj)
             RB_DEBUG_COUNTER_INC(obj_imemo_parser_strterm);
             break;
           case imemo_callinfo:
-            RB_DEBUG_COUNTER_INC(obj_imemo_callinfo);
-            break;
+            {
+                const struct rb_callinfo * ci = ((const struct rb_callinfo *)obj);
+                if (ci->kwarg) {
+                    ((struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *)ci->kwarg)->references--;
+                    if (ci->kwarg->references == 0) xfree((void *)ci->kwarg);
+                }
+                RB_DEBUG_COUNTER_INC(obj_imemo_callinfo);
+                break;
+            }
           case imemo_callcache:
             RB_DEBUG_COUNTER_INC(obj_imemo_callcache);
             break;
diff --git a/rjit_c.rb b/rjit_c.rb
index b05980e110..ef99df211a 100644
--- a/rjit_c.rb
+++ b/rjit_c.rb
@@ -1037,6 +1037,7 @@ module RubyVM::RJIT # :nodoc: all
     @rb_callinfo_kwarg ||= CType::Struct.new(
       "rb_callinfo_kwarg", Primitive.cexpr!("SIZEOF(struct rb_callinfo_kwarg)"),
       keyword_len: [CType::Immediate.parse("int"), Primitive.cexpr!("OFFSETOF((*((struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *)NULL)), keyword_len)")],
+      references: [CType::Immediate.parse("int"), Primitive.cexpr!("OFFSETOF((*((struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *)NULL)), references)")],
       keywords: [CType::Immediate.parse("void *"), Primitive.cexpr!("OFFSETOF((*((struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *)NULL)), keywords)")],
     )
   end
diff --git a/vm_callinfo.h b/vm_callinfo.h
index 91c92854d7..fb6998b8b3 100644
--- a/vm_callinfo.h
+++ b/vm_callinfo.h
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ enum vm_call_flag_bits {
 
 struct rb_callinfo_kwarg {
     int keyword_len;
+    int references;
     VALUE keywords[];
 };
 
@@ -199,6 +200,9 @@ vm_ci_dump(const struct rb_callinfo *ci)
 static inline const struct rb_callinfo *
 vm_ci_new_(ID mid, unsigned int flag, unsigned int argc, const struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *kwarg, const char *file, int line)
 {
+    if (kwarg) {
+        ((struct rb_callinfo_kwarg *)kwarg)->references++;
+    }
     if (USE_EMBED_CI && VM_CI_EMBEDDABLE_P(mid, flag, argc, kwarg)) {
         RB_DEBUG_COUNTER_INC(ci_packed);
         return vm_ci_new_id(mid, flag, argc, kwarg);