diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 703ce8478..0f86d2431 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ ver 0.21.25 (not yet released)
   - smbclient: don't send credentials to MPD clients
 * decoder
   - opus: apply pre-skip
+  - opus: fix memory leak
 * output
   - osx: improve sample rate selection
 * Windows/Android:
diff --git a/src/decoder/plugins/OpusDecoderPlugin.cxx b/src/decoder/plugins/OpusDecoderPlugin.cxx
index 88e8098f0..fc77b5454 100644
--- a/src/decoder/plugins/OpusDecoderPlugin.cxx
+++ b/src/decoder/plugins/OpusDecoderPlugin.cxx
@@ -192,8 +192,12 @@ MPDOpusDecoder::OnOggBeginning(const ogg_packet &packet)
 	client.Ready(audio_format, eos_granulepos > 0, duration);
 	frame_size = audio_format.GetFrameSize();
 
-	output_buffer = new opus_int16[opus_output_buffer_frames
-				       * audio_format.channels];
+	if (output_buffer == nullptr)
+		/* note: if we ever support changing the channel count
+		   in chained streams, we need to reallocate this
+		   buffer instead of keeping it */
+		output_buffer = new opus_int16[opus_output_buffer_frames
+					       * audio_format.channels];
 
 	auto cmd = client.GetCommand();
 	if (cmd != DecoderCommand::NONE)