diff --git a/libavformat/nutdec.c b/libavformat/nutdec.c
index 1bb2091e49..5073b45a92 100644
--- a/libavformat/nutdec.c
+++ b/libavformat/nutdec.c
@@ -505,6 +505,10 @@ static int decode_info_header(NUTContext *nut)
                                      nut->time_base[chapter_start %
                                                     nut->time_base_count],
                                      start, start + chapter_len, NULL);
+        if (!chapter) {
+            av_log(s, AV_LOG_ERROR, "could not create chapter\n");
+            return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+        }
         metadata = &chapter->metadata;
     } else if (stream_id_plus1) {
         st       = s->streams[stream_id_plus1 - 1];