diff --git a/src/main/scala/apps/CifarApp.scala b/src/main/scala/apps/CifarApp.scala
index b49a115..5c00797 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/apps/CifarApp.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/apps/CifarApp.scala
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ object CifarApp {
       val broadcastWeights = sc.broadcast(netWeights)
       logger.log("setting weights on workers", i)
       workers.foreach(_ => workerStore.get[CaffeSolver]("solver").trainNet.setWeights(broadcastWeights.value))
+      // avoiding a memory leak:
+      broadcastWeights.unpersist()
+      broadcastWeights.destroy()
 
       if (i % 5 == 0) {
         logger.log("testing", i)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/apps/FeaturizerApp.scala b/src/main/scala/apps/FeaturizerApp.scala
index be26c79..fb34665 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/apps/FeaturizerApp.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/apps/FeaturizerApp.scala
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ object FeaturizerApp {
     val broadcastWeights = sc.broadcast(netWeights)
     logger.log("setting weights on workers")
     workers.foreach(_ => workerStore.get[CaffeNet]("net").setWeights(broadcastWeights.value))
+    // avoiding a memory leak:
+    broadcastWeights.unpersist()
+    broadcastWeights.destroy()
 
     // featurize the images
     val featurizedDF = trainDF.mapPartitions( it => {
diff --git a/src/main/scala/apps/ImageNetApp.scala b/src/main/scala/apps/ImageNetApp.scala
index 04506ad..906f6ed 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/apps/ImageNetApp.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/apps/ImageNetApp.scala
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ object ImageNetApp {
       val broadcastWeights = sc.broadcast(netWeights)
       logger.log("setting weights on workers", i)
       workers.foreach(_ => workerStore.get[CaffeSolver]("solver").trainNet.setWeights(broadcastWeights.value))
+      // avoiding a memory leak:
+      broadcastWeights.unpersist()
+      broadcastWeights.destroy()
 
       if (i % 10 == 0) {
         logger.log("testing", i)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/apps/MnistApp.scala b/src/main/scala/apps/MnistApp.scala
index 5796868..873e1e2 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/apps/MnistApp.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/apps/MnistApp.scala
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ object MnistApp {
       val broadcastWeights = sc.broadcast(netWeights)
       logger.log("setting weights on workers", i)
       workers.foreach(_ => workerStore.get[TensorFlowNet]("net").setWeights(broadcastWeights.value))
+      // avoiding a memory leak:
+      broadcastWeights.unpersist()
+      broadcastWeights.destroy()
 
       if (i % 5 == 0) {
         logger.log("testing", i)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/apps/TFImageNetApp.scala b/src/main/scala/apps/TFImageNetApp.scala
index f6195aa..9b287c4 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/apps/TFImageNetApp.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/apps/TFImageNetApp.scala
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ object TFImageNetApp {
       val broadcastWeights = sc.broadcast(netWeights)
       logger.log("setting weights on workers", i)
       workers.foreach(_ => workerStore.get[TensorFlowNet]("net").setWeights(broadcastWeights.value))
+      // avoiding a memory leak
+      broadcastWeights.unpersist()
+      broadcastWeights.destroy()
 
       if (i % 5 == 0) {
         logger.log("testing", i)