diff --git a/libavformat/flvdec.c b/libavformat/flvdec.c
index 7b5ce983a8..89feb6f106 100644
--- a/libavformat/flvdec.c
+++ b/libavformat/flvdec.c
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 
 #define VALIDATE_INDEX_TS_THRESH 2500
 
+#define MAX_DEPTH 16      ///< arbitrary limit to prevent unbounded recursion
+
 typedef struct FLVContext {
     const AVClass *class; ///< Class for private options.
     int trust_metadata;   ///< configure streams according onMetaData
@@ -393,6 +395,9 @@ static int amf_parse_object(AVFormatContext *s, AVStream *astream,
     char str_val[1024];
     double num_val;
 
+    if (depth > MAX_DEPTH)
+        return AVERROR_PATCHWELCOME;
+
     num_val  = 0;
     ioc      = s->pb;
     if (avio_feof(ioc))