diff --git a/libavcodec/vp8.c b/libavcodec/vp8.c
index becbb2c437..494400f41e 100644
--- a/libavcodec/vp8.c
+++ b/libavcodec/vp8.c
@@ -2689,6 +2689,9 @@ av_cold int ff_vp8_decode_free(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     VP8Context *s = avctx->priv_data;
     int i;
 
+    if (!s)
+        return 0;
+
     vp8_decode_flush_impl(avctx, 1);
     for (i = 0; i < FF_ARRAY_ELEMS(s->frames); i++)
         av_frame_free(&s->frames[i].tf.f);