diff --git a/gst/gst_private.h b/gst/gst_private.h
index ab7a9797fa..049142cb28 100644
--- a/gst/gst_private.h
+++ b/gst/gst_private.h
@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ G_GNUC_INTERNAL  void  _priv_gst_allocator_cleanup (void);
 G_GNUC_INTERNAL  void  _priv_gst_caps_features_cleanup (void);
 G_GNUC_INTERNAL  void  _priv_gst_caps_cleanup (void);
 
+/* called from gst_task_cleanup_all(). */
+G_GNUC_INTERNAL  void  _priv_gst_element_cleanup (void);
+
 /* Private registry functions */
 G_GNUC_INTERNAL
 gboolean _priv_gst_registry_remove_cache_plugins (GstRegistry *registry);
diff --git a/gst/gstelement.c b/gst/gstelement.c
index dd1f9dcab0..761627b719 100644
--- a/gst/gstelement.c
+++ b/gst/gstelement.c
@@ -3423,3 +3423,12 @@ gst_element_call_async (GstElement * element, GstElementCallAsyncFunc func,
 
   g_thread_pool_push (gst_element_pool, async_data, NULL);
 }
+
+void
+_priv_gst_element_cleanup (void)
+{
+  if (gst_element_pool) {
+    g_thread_pool_free (gst_element_pool, FALSE, TRUE);
+    gst_element_pool = NULL;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/gst/gsttask.c b/gst/gsttask.c
index 2972e06ba0..d8f17a7e1d 100644
--- a/gst/gsttask.c
+++ b/gst/gsttask.c
@@ -386,6 +386,9 @@ gst_task_cleanup_all (void)
   if ((klass = g_type_class_peek (GST_TYPE_TASK))) {
     init_klass_pool (klass);
   }
+
+  /* GstElement owns a GThreadPool */
+  _priv_gst_element_cleanup ();
 }
 
 /**