diff --git a/fftools/cmdutils.c b/fftools/cmdutils.c
index e442935cae..dc093b0bd3 100644
--- a/fftools/cmdutils.c
+++ b/fftools/cmdutils.c
@@ -1471,9 +1471,12 @@ void *allocate_array_elem(void *ptr, size_t elem_size, int *nb_elems)
 {
     void *new_elem;
 
-    if (!(new_elem = av_mallocz(elem_size)) ||
-        av_dynarray_add_nofree(ptr, nb_elems, new_elem) < 0)
+    new_elem = av_mallocz(elem_size);
+    if (!new_elem)
         return NULL;
+    if (av_dynarray_add_nofree(ptr, nb_elems, new_elem) < 0)
+        av_freep(&new_elem);
+
     return new_elem;
 }