diff --git a/libavcodec/mace.c b/libavcodec/mace.c
index bf9ea08fcf..dd721d24b5 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mace.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mace.c
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ static av_cold int mace_decode_init(AVCodecContext * avctx)
 {
     MACEContext *ctx = avctx->priv_data;
 
-    if (avctx->channels > 2)
+    if (avctx->channels > 2 || avctx->channels <= 0)
         return -1;
     avctx->sample_fmt = AV_SAMPLE_FMT_S16;