diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index 7ef858153b6beffd28b716f98c6ec2a29549d63f..a3ab1344aa5fd2b48c5c33a2472daad32c6ab7fd 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -645,7 +645,7 @@ void avcodec_get_frame_defaults(AVFrame *frame)
 
 AVFrame *avcodec_alloc_frame(void)
 {
-    AVFrame *frame = av_malloc(sizeof(AVFrame));
+    AVFrame *frame = av_mallocz(sizeof(AVFrame));
 
     if (frame == NULL)
         return NULL;