diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 9c1d9f3adf..f588aaa485 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2005-04-23  Luca Ognibene  <luogni@tin.it>
+
+	Reviewed by:  Ronald S. Bultje  <rbultje@ronald.bitfreak.net>
+
+	* ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegenc.c: (gst_ffmpegenc_getcaps):
+	  Don't crash if avcodec_open failed (#301717).
+
 2005-04-21  Ronald S. Bultje  <rbultje@ronald.bitfreak.net>
 
 	* ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegdemux.c: (gst_ffmpegdemux_register):
diff --git a/ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegenc.c b/ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegenc.c
index 4e7c2b0fbb..cc815f1d0c 100644
--- a/ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegenc.c
+++ b/ext/ffmpeg/gstffmpegenc.c
@@ -331,9 +331,8 @@ gst_ffmpegenc_getcaps (GstPad * pad)
         caps = gst_caps_new_empty ();
       gst_caps_append (caps,
           gst_ffmpeg_codectype_to_caps (oclass->in_plugin->type, ctx));
+      avcodec_close (ctx);
     }
-    /* FIXME: ffmpeg likes to crash on this */
-    avcodec_close (ctx);
   }
   av_free (ctx);