diff --git a/libavcodec/h264dec.c b/libavcodec/h264dec.c
index aed23c4fba..517f6acc13 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264dec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264dec.c
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ static int output_frame(H264Context *h, AVFrame *dst, H264Picture *srcp)
     int ret;
 
     if (src->format == AV_PIX_FMT_VIDEOTOOLBOX && src->buf[0]->size == 1)
-        return AVERROR_EXTERNAL;
+        return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
 
     ret = av_frame_ref(dst, src);
     if (ret < 0)