diff --git a/libavcodec/h264.c b/libavcodec/h264.c
index 1b5aeb2ceb..3eb1386a24 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264.c
@@ -8083,10 +8083,8 @@ int main(void){
 #endif /* TEST */
 
 
-static av_cold int decode_end(AVCodecContext *avctx)
+av_cold ff_h264_free_context(H264Context *h)
 {
-    H264Context *h = avctx->priv_data;
-    MpegEncContext *s = &h->s;
     int i;
 
     av_freep(&h->rbsp_buffer[0]);
@@ -8098,6 +8096,14 @@ static av_cold int decode_end(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 
     for(i = 0; i < MAX_PPS_COUNT; i++)
         av_freep(h->pps_buffers + i);
+}
+
+static av_cold int decode_end(AVCodecContext *avctx)
+{
+    H264Context *h = avctx->priv_data;
+    MpegEncContext *s = &h->s;
+
+    ff_h264_free_context(h);
 
     MPV_common_end(s);
 
diff --git a/libavcodec/h264.h b/libavcodec/h264.h
index fc9cef5d36..1f151af2cb 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264.h
+++ b/libavcodec/h264.h
@@ -569,4 +569,9 @@ const uint8_t *ff_h264_decode_nal(H264Context *h, const uint8_t *src, int *dst_l
  */
 int ff_h264_decode_rbsp_trailing(H264Context *h, const uint8_t *src);
 
+/**
+ * frees any data that may have been allocated in the H264 context like SPS, PPS etc.
+ */
+av_cold ff_h264_free_context(H264Context *h);
+
 #endif /* AVCODEC_H264_H */
diff --git a/libavcodec/h264_parser.c b/libavcodec/h264_parser.c
index 5f0c68c787..27f68d2380 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264_parser.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264_parser.c
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ static void close(AVCodecParserContext *s)
     ParseContext *pc = &h->s.parse_context;
 
     av_free(pc->buffer);
+    ff_h264_free_context(h);
 }