diff --git a/libavcodec/ac3_parser.c b/libavcodec/ac3_parser.c
index f4618bf215..1e203ae6ac 100644
--- a/libavcodec/ac3_parser.c
+++ b/libavcodec/ac3_parser.c
@@ -162,7 +162,9 @@ int avpriv_ac3_parse_header(AC3HeaderInfo **phdr, const uint8_t *buf,
         return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
     hdr = *phdr;
 
-    init_get_bits8(&gb, buf, size);
+    err = init_get_bits8(&gb, buf, size);
+    if (err < 0)
+        return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
     err = ff_ac3_parse_header(&gb, hdr);
     if (err < 0)
         return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;