diff --git a/libavcodec/libvpxenc.c b/libavcodec/libvpxenc.c
index 30940a128d..c69acc00ef 100644
--- a/libavcodec/libvpxenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/libvpxenc.c
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ static int queue_frames(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVPacket *pkt_out,
                     av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR,
                            "Data buffer alloc (%"SIZE_SPECIFIER" bytes) failed\n",
                            cx_frame->sz);
-                    av_free(cx_frame);
+                    av_freep(&cx_frame);
                     return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
                 }
                 memcpy(cx_frame->buf, pkt->data.frame.buf, pkt->data.frame.sz);