diff --git a/mlx/allocator.cpp b/mlx/allocator.cpp
index a111b5c22..8d7273a78 100644
--- a/mlx/allocator.cpp
+++ b/mlx/allocator.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Buffer malloc(size_t size) {
 }
 
 void free(Buffer buffer) {
-  return allocator().free(buffer);
+  allocator().free(buffer);
 }
 
 Buffer CommonAllocator::malloc(size_t size, bool) {
diff --git a/mlx/array.cpp b/mlx/array.cpp
index 2c70b9c8e..8bf007688 100644
--- a/mlx/array.cpp
+++ b/mlx/array.cpp
@@ -214,6 +214,8 @@ array::~array() {
     if (do_detach) {
       for (auto& s : siblings()) {
         for (auto& ss : s.siblings()) {
+          // Set to null here to avoid descending into array destructor
+          // for siblings
           ss.array_desc_ = nullptr;
         }
         s.array_desc_->siblings.clear();
@@ -292,6 +294,14 @@ array::ArrayDesc::~ArrayDesc() {
     auto top = std::move(for_deletion.back());
     for_deletion.pop_back();
     append_deletable_inputs(*top);
+
+    // Clear out possible siblings to break circular references
+    for (auto& s : top->siblings) {
+      // Set to null here to avoid descending into top-level
+      // array destructor for siblings
+      s.array_desc_ = nullptr;
+    }
+    top->siblings.clear();
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/python/tests/test_array.py b/python/tests/test_array.py
index db0e26aa9..b0c915de1 100644
--- a/python/tests/test_array.py
+++ b/python/tests/test_array.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import operator
 import pickle
+import resource
 import sys
 import unittest
 import weakref
@@ -1928,6 +1929,25 @@ class TestArray(mlx_tests.MLXTestCase):
             x = mx.sin(x)
         mx.eval(x)
 
+    def test_siblings_without_eval(self):
+        def get_mem():
+            return resource.getrusage(resource.RUSAGE_SELF).ru_maxrss
+
+        key = mx.array([1, 2])
+
+        def t():
+            a, b = mx.split(key, 2)
+            a = mx.reshape(a, [])
+            b = mx.reshape(b, [])
+            return b
+
+        t()
+        expected = get_mem()
+        for _ in range(100):
+            t()
+        used = get_mem()
+        self.assertEqual(expected, used)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()