diff --git a/selfdrive/loggerd/encoder/ffmpeg_encoder.cc b/selfdrive/loggerd/encoder/ffmpeg_encoder.cc
index 22587819a4..5f8d140e8b 100644
--- a/selfdrive/loggerd/encoder/ffmpeg_encoder.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/loggerd/encoder/ffmpeg_encoder.cc
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ void FfmpegEncoder::encoder_open(const char* path) {
 
 void FfmpegEncoder::encoder_close() {
   if (!is_open) return;
+
   writer_close();
+  avcodec_free_context(&codec_ctx);
   is_open = false;
 }