diff --git a/libavutil/frame.c b/libavutil/frame.c
index 8811dcdcfe..69ee240758 100644
--- a/libavutil/frame.c
+++ b/libavutil/frame.c
@@ -668,6 +668,8 @@ AVFrameSideData *av_frame_new_side_data(AVFrame *frame,
                                         enum AVFrameSideDataType type,
                                         int size)
 {
+    if (size <= 0)
+        return NULL;
 
     return frame_new_side_data(frame, type, av_buffer_alloc(size));
 }