diff --git a/libavcodec/apedec.c b/libavcodec/apedec.c
index 65c07d0f7f..0bee9d83f1 100644
--- a/libavcodec/apedec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/apedec.c
@@ -301,7 +301,6 @@ static av_cold int ape_decode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 
     return 0;
 filter_alloc_fail:
-    ape_decode_close(avctx);
     return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
 }
 
@@ -1638,6 +1637,7 @@ AVCodec ff_ape_decoder = {
     .decode         = ape_decode_frame,
     .capabilities   = AV_CODEC_CAP_SUBFRAMES | AV_CODEC_CAP_DELAY |
                       AV_CODEC_CAP_DR1,
+    .caps_internal  = FF_CODEC_CAP_INIT_CLEANUP,
     .flush          = ape_flush,
     .sample_fmts    = (const enum AVSampleFormat[]) { AV_SAMPLE_FMT_U8P,
                                                       AV_SAMPLE_FMT_S16P,