diff --git a/ext/opus/gstopusenc.c b/ext/opus/gstopusenc.c
index 5386286ff2..337be8c0e4 100644
--- a/ext/opus/gstopusenc.c
+++ b/ext/opus/gstopusenc.c
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ gst_opus_enc_stop (GstAudioEncoder * benc)
     opus_multistream_encoder_destroy (enc->state);
     enc->state = NULL;
   }
-  gst_tag_list_free (enc->tags);
+  gst_tag_list_unref (enc->tags);
   enc->tags = NULL;
   g_slist_foreach (enc->headers, (GFunc) gst_buffer_unref, NULL);
   g_slist_free (enc->headers);
diff --git a/ext/opus/gstopusheader.c b/ext/opus/gstopusheader.c
index 5c4edba49f..af97172955 100644
--- a/ext/opus/gstopusheader.c
+++ b/ext/opus/gstopusheader.c
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ gst_opus_enc_create_metadata_buffer (const GstTagList * tags)
   GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (comments) = 0;
 
   if (empty_tags)
-    gst_tag_list_free (empty_tags);
+    gst_tag_list_unref (empty_tags);
 
   return comments;
 }