diff --git a/libavformat/utils.c b/libavformat/utils.c
index ef2d89f076..3ea0ebd9d6 100644
--- a/libavformat/utils.c
+++ b/libavformat/utils.c
@@ -2434,6 +2434,9 @@ void avformat_free_context(AVFormatContext *s)
     int i, j;
     AVStream *st;
 
+    if (!s)
+        return;
+
     av_opt_free(s);
     if (s->iformat && s->iformat->priv_class && s->priv_data)
         av_opt_free(s->priv_data);