diff --git a/compiler/builtins/bitcode/src/str.zig b/compiler/builtins/bitcode/src/str.zig
index 572eaa14e0..e18eca4306 100644
--- a/compiler/builtins/bitcode/src/str.zig
+++ b/compiler/builtins/bitcode/src/str.zig
@@ -1018,9 +1018,9 @@ fn fromUtf8(allocator: *Allocator, arg: RocList) FromUtf8Result {
     } else {
         const temp = errorToProblem(@ptrCast([*]u8, arg.bytes), arg.length);
 
-        // TODO what should we do RC-wise here
-        // const data_bytes = arg.len();
-        // utils.decref(allocator, @alignOf(usize), arg.list_bytes, data_bytes);
+        // consume the input list
+        const data_bytes = arg.len();
+        utils.decref(allocator, @alignOf(usize), arg.bytes, data_bytes);
 
         return FromUtf8Result{ .is_ok = false, .string = RocStr.empty(), .byte_index = temp.index, .problem_code = temp.problem };
     }
diff --git a/examples/benchmarks/TestBase64.roc b/examples/benchmarks/TestBase64.roc
index 75adbca8be..27c5617ebf 100644
--- a/examples/benchmarks/TestBase64.roc
+++ b/examples/benchmarks/TestBase64.roc
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ IO a : Task.Task a []
 
 main : IO {}
 main =
-    # when fromBytes [ 0 ] is
     when Base64.fromBytes (Str.toBytes "Hello World") is
         Ok str ->
             Task.putLine str