diff --git a/libavformat/genh.c b/libavformat/genh.c
index 698104a9d6..0b55a8884a 100644
--- a/libavformat/genh.c
+++ b/libavformat/genh.c
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ static int genh_read_header(AVFormatContext *s)
         return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
     st->codecpar->block_align = align * st->codecpar->channels;
     st->codecpar->sample_rate = avio_rl32(s->pb);
+    if (st->codecpar->sample_rate < 0)
+        return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
+
     avio_skip(s->pb, 4);
     st->duration = avio_rl32(s->pb);