diff --git a/libavformat/rmenc.c b/libavformat/rmenc.c
index d019e1beab..838388f30d 100644
--- a/libavformat/rmenc.c
+++ b/libavformat/rmenc.c
@@ -364,6 +364,8 @@ static int rm_write_audio(AVFormatContext *s, const uint8_t *buf, int size, int
 
     /* XXX: suppress this malloc */
     buf1 = av_malloc(size * sizeof(uint8_t));
+    if (!buf1)
+        return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
 
     write_packet_header(s, stream, size, !!(flags & AV_PKT_FLAG_KEY));