diff --git a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
index ce7d642b098..9b85e7f3376 100644
--- a/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
+++ b/Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ def _process_worker(call_queue, result_queue, initializer, initargs):
             _sendback_result(result_queue, call_item.work_id, exception=exc)
         else:
             _sendback_result(result_queue, call_item.work_id, result=r)
+            del r
 
         # Liberate the resource as soon as possible, to avoid holding onto
         # open files or shared memory that is not needed anymore
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-11-08-47-58.bpo-35715.Wi3gl0.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-11-08-47-58.bpo-35715.Wi3gl0.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0c1ec6b53fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2019-01-11-08-47-58.bpo-35715.Wi3gl0.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Librates the return value of a ProcessPoolExecutor _process_worker after it's no longer needed to free memory
\ No newline at end of file