diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapisurface.c b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapisurface.c
index f7e4b8c535..54bc432e08 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapisurface.c
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapisurface.c
@@ -853,6 +853,7 @@ gst_vaapi_surface_update_composition(
 
         if (!gst_vaapi_image_update_from_buffer (subtitle_image, buf, &sub_rect)) {
             GST_WARNING ("could not update VA image with subtitle data");
+            g_object_unref (subtitle_image);
             return FALSE;
         }