diff --git a/libavcodec/notchlc.c b/libavcodec/notchlc.c
index 39c646d790..371c8b5e54 100644
--- a/libavcodec/notchlc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/notchlc.c
@@ -243,7 +243,9 @@ static int decode_blocks(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVFrame *p,
 
         bytestream2_seek(&dgb, s->y_data_offset + row_offset, SEEK_SET);
 
-        init_get_bits8(&bit, dgb.buffer, bytestream2_get_bytes_left(&dgb));
+        ret = init_get_bits8(&bit, dgb.buffer, bytestream2_get_bytes_left(&dgb));
+        if (ret < 0)
+            return ret;
         for (int x = 0; x < avctx->width; x += 4) {
             unsigned item = bytestream2_get_le32(gb);
             unsigned y_min = item & 4095;