diff --git a/plugins/elements/gstcapsfilter.c b/plugins/elements/gstcapsfilter.c
index 16278dcb70..5088756374 100644
--- a/plugins/elements/gstcapsfilter.c
+++ b/plugins/elements/gstcapsfilter.c
@@ -355,6 +355,8 @@ gst_capsfilter_prepare_buf (GstBaseTransform * trans, GstBuffer * input,
 
       if (!gst_pad_has_current_caps (trans->srcpad))
         gst_pad_push_event (trans->srcpad, gst_event_new_caps (out_caps));
+      else
+        gst_caps_unref (out_caps);
     } else {
       gchar *caps_str = gst_caps_to_string (out_caps);