diff --git a/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c b/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
index 297ff78840..f8de0281ff 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mpegvideo_enc.c
@@ -1518,8 +1518,7 @@ static int estimate_best_b_count(MpegEncContext *s)
         }
     }
 
-    avcodec_close(c);
-    av_freep(&c);
+    avcodec_free_context(&c);
 
     return best_b_count;
 }