diff --git a/libavcodec/misc4.c b/libavcodec/misc4.c
index d92c671d1d..af075882f5 100644
--- a/libavcodec/misc4.c
+++ b/libavcodec/misc4.c
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ static av_cold int misc4_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
 {
     MISC4Context *s = avctx->priv_data;
 
+    if (avctx->sample_rate <= 0)
+        return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
+
     avctx->sample_fmt = AV_SAMPLE_FMT_S16;
     switch (avctx->sample_rate) {
     case 8000: