diff --git a/libavcodec/pgssubdec.c b/libavcodec/pgssubdec.c
index 136cd950ce..0877ac73e0 100644
--- a/libavcodec/pgssubdec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/pgssubdec.c
@@ -677,8 +677,11 @@ static int decode(AVCodecContext *avctx, void *data, int *data_size,
             ret = AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
             break;
         }
-        if (ret < 0 && (avctx->err_recognition & AV_EF_EXPLODE))
+        if (ret < 0 && (avctx->err_recognition & AV_EF_EXPLODE)) {
+            avsubtitle_free(data);
+            *data_size = 0;
             return ret;
+        }
 
         buf += segment_length;
     }