Using free() with plot_annotation() raises an error (sometimes)

[trekonom]

When running an older code of mine I stumbled over a possible bug introduced in version 1.3.0 when using free() and plot_annotation()

Without plot_annotation() the following reprex works fine:

library(ggplot2)
library(patchwork)

packageVersion("patchwork")
#> [1] '1.3.0'

list(free(ggplot()), ggplot()) |>
  wrap_plots()

But adding plot_annotation() raises an error:

list(free(ggplot()), ggplot()) |>
  wrap_plots() &
  plot_annotation()
#> Error in split.default(names(settings), settings): first argument must be a vector

Moreover, the issue does not arise in general but depends on the position of the plot to which free() is applied, e.g. if I switch the plots which make up the patch we don't get an error.

list(ggplot(), free(ggplot())) |>
  wrap_plots() &
  plot_annotation()

And as a reference, the buggy code worked fine in version 1.2.0:

library(ggplot2)
library(patchwork)

packageVersion("patchwork")
#> [1] '1.2.0'

list(free(ggplot()), ggplot()) |>
  wrap_plots() &
  plot_annotation()