diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-base/gst/subparse/samiparse.c b/subprojects/gst-plugins-base/gst/subparse/samiparse.c
index 9b6c655d7d..93ea80365b 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-base/gst/subparse/samiparse.c
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-base/gst/subparse/samiparse.c
@@ -494,6 +494,10 @@ html_context_handle_element (HtmlContext * ctxt,
     gchar *attr_name = NULL, *attr_value = NULL;
     gsize length;
     next = string_token (next + 1, "=", &attr_name);
+    if (!next) {
+      g_free (attr_name);
+      break;
+    }
     next = string_token (next + 1, " ", &attr_value);
 
     /* strip " or ' from attribute value */