diff --git a/libavfilter/vf_drawtext.c b/libavfilter/vf_drawtext.c
index 40e0e9a7ef..e4662f3a45 100644
--- a/libavfilter/vf_drawtext.c
+++ b/libavfilter/vf_drawtext.c
@@ -1226,6 +1226,7 @@ static int command(AVFilterContext *ctx, const char *cmd, const char *arg, char
 
         ctx->priv = old;
         uninit(ctx);
+        av_opt_free(old);
         av_freep(&old);
 
         ctx->priv = new;