diff --git a/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c b/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
index 00fd3f272a..11d4cc11ad 100644
--- a/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
+++ b/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
@@ -1903,6 +1903,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_handle_frame (GstVideoEncoder * video_encoder,
     GST_ELEMENT_ERROR (encoder, LIBRARY, ENCODE,
         ("Failed to encode frame"), ("%s", gst_vpx_error_name (status)));
     gst_video_codec_frame_set_user_data (frame, NULL, NULL);
+    gst_video_codec_frame_unref (frame);
 
     return GST_FLOW_ERROR;
   }