diff --git a/libavcodec/dsddec.c b/libavcodec/dsddec.c
index 2c5c357acc..a2e038419f 100644
--- a/libavcodec/dsddec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/dsddec.c
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ static av_cold int decode_init(AVCodecContext *avctx)
     int i;
     uint8_t silence;
 
+    if (!avctx->channels)
+        return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
+
     ff_init_dsd_data();
 
     s = av_malloc_array(sizeof(DSDContext), avctx->channels);