diff --git a/libavcodec/nellymoserenc.c b/libavcodec/nellymoserenc.c
index 4f511c292b..9bbdd52426 100644
--- a/libavcodec/nellymoserenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/nellymoserenc.c
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ static av_cold int encode_end(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     ff_mdct_end(&s->mdct_ctx);
 
     if (s->avctx->trellis) {
-        av_free(s->opt);
-        av_free(s->path);
+        av_freep(&s->opt);
+        av_freep(&s->path);
     }
     ff_af_queue_close(&s->afq);