diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index fc56d69b31..131c156a6c 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -803,7 +803,7 @@ int attribute_align_arg avcodec_open2(AVCodecContext *avctx, const AVCodec *code
 
     ret = ff_lock_avcodec(avctx);
     if (ret < 0)
-        goto end;
+        return ret;
 
     avctx->internal = av_mallocz(sizeof(AVCodecInternal));
     if (!avctx->internal) {