diff --git a/libavcodec/wmaenc.c b/libavcodec/wmaenc.c
index d061cde480..8252f4568d 100644
--- a/libavcodec/wmaenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/wmaenc.c
@@ -376,6 +376,11 @@ static int encode_superframe(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVPacket *avpkt,
 
     while(total_gain <= 128 && error > 0)
         error = encode_frame(s, s->coefs, avpkt->data, avpkt->size, total_gain++);
+    if (error > 0) {
+        av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Invalid input data or requested bitrate too low, cannot encode\n");
+        avpkt->size = 0;
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
+    }
     av_assert0((put_bits_count(&s->pb) & 7) == 0);
     i= avctx->block_align - (put_bits_count(&s->pb)+7)/8;
     av_assert0(i>=0);