diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 9da14259..69050409 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 xbps-0.46 (???):
 
+ * xbps_transaction_prepare(): do not release the transaction dictionary
+   if it returns ENOSPC, we need it to have access to this data to print
+   required/free space. Fixes #101 ((https://github.com/voidlinux/xbps/issues/101)
+
  * xbps-uchroot(1): now handles SIG{INT,TERM,QUIT} signals to clean up the
    temporary masterdir if `-t` is set.
 
diff --git a/lib/transaction_dictionary.c b/lib/transaction_dictionary.c
index 7c5b2067..a2e30d07 100644
--- a/lib/transaction_dictionary.c
+++ b/lib/transaction_dictionary.c
@@ -344,8 +344,6 @@ xbps_transaction_prepare(struct xbps_handle *xhp)
 	 * and removed to the transaction dictionary.
 	 */
 	if ((rv = compute_transaction_stats(xhp)) != 0) {
-		xbps_object_release(xhp->transd);
-		xhp->transd = NULL;
 		return rv;
 	}
 	/*