diff --git a/libavfilter/vf_spp.c b/libavfilter/vf_spp.c
index 7381938f7f..1b934aa9d7 100644
--- a/libavfilter/vf_spp.c
+++ b/libavfilter/vf_spp.c
@@ -460,9 +460,8 @@ static av_cold int init_dict(AVFilterContext *ctx, AVDictionary **opts)
     SPPContext *s = ctx->priv;
     int ret;
 
-    s->avctx = avcodec_alloc_context3(NULL);
     s->dct = avcodec_dct_alloc();
-    if (!s->avctx || !s->dct)
+    if (!s->dct)
         return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
 
     if (opts) {
@@ -489,10 +488,6 @@ static av_cold void uninit(AVFilterContext *ctx)
 
     av_freep(&s->temp);
     av_freep(&s->src);
-    if (s->avctx) {
-        avcodec_close(s->avctx);
-        av_freep(&s->avctx);
-    }
     av_freep(&s->dct);
     av_freep(&s->non_b_qp_table);
 }
diff --git a/libavfilter/vf_spp.h b/libavfilter/vf_spp.h
index c03073a4e1..879ed40f03 100644
--- a/libavfilter/vf_spp.h
+++ b/libavfilter/vf_spp.h
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #ifndef AVFILTER_SPP_H
 #define AVFILTER_SPP_H
 
-#include "libavcodec/avcodec.h"
 #include "libavcodec/avdct.h"
 #include "avfilter.h"
 
@@ -38,7 +37,6 @@ typedef struct SPPContext {
     int temp_linesize;
     uint8_t *src;
     uint16_t *temp;
-    AVCodecContext *avctx;
     AVDCT *dct;
     int8_t *non_b_qp_table;
     int non_b_qp_alloc_size;