diff --git a/libmpcodecs/ae.c b/libmpcodecs/ae.c
index dd8984f765..f73182f0f5 100644
--- a/libmpcodecs/ae.c
+++ b/libmpcodecs/ae.c
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@
 audio_encoder_t *new_audio_encoder(muxer_stream_t *stream, audio_encoding_params_t *params)
 {
 	int ris;
+	audio_encoder_t *encoder;
 	if(! params)
 		return NULL;
 	
-	audio_encoder_t *encoder = (audio_encoder_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(audio_encoder_t));
+	encoder = (audio_encoder_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(audio_encoder_t));
 	memcpy(&encoder->params, params, sizeof(audio_encoding_params_t));
 	encoder->stream = stream;