diff --git a/libavcodec/get_buffer.c b/libavcodec/get_buffer.c
index 3e45a0479f..a04fd878de 100644
--- a/libavcodec/get_buffer.c
+++ b/libavcodec/get_buffer.c
@@ -246,7 +246,6 @@ fail:
 static int video_get_buffer(AVCodecContext *s, AVFrame *pic)
 {
     FramePool *pool = (FramePool*)s->internal->pool->data;
-    const AVPixFmtDescriptor *desc = av_pix_fmt_desc_get(pic->format);
     int i;
 
     if (pic->data[0] || pic->data[1] || pic->data[2] || pic->data[3]) {
@@ -254,13 +253,6 @@ static int video_get_buffer(AVCodecContext *s, AVFrame *pic)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (!desc) {
-        av_log(s, AV_LOG_ERROR,
-            "Unable to get pixel format descriptor for format %s\n",
-            av_get_pix_fmt_name(pic->format));
-        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
-    }
-
     memset(pic->data, 0, sizeof(pic->data));
     pic->extended_data = pic->data;