diff --git a/libavfilter/f_metadata.c b/libavfilter/f_metadata.c
index 598257b15b..3332d91a3e 100644
--- a/libavfilter/f_metadata.c
+++ b/libavfilter/f_metadata.c
@@ -304,9 +304,6 @@ static int filter_frame(AVFilterLink *inlink, AVFrame *frame)
     AVDictionary **metadata = &frame->metadata;
     AVDictionaryEntry *e;
 
-    if (!*metadata && s->mode != METADATA_ADD)
-        return ff_filter_frame(outlink, frame);
-
     e = av_dict_get(*metadata, !s->key ? "" : s->key, NULL,
                     !s->key ? AV_DICT_IGNORE_SUFFIX: 0);