diff --git a/libavfilter/vf_scale.c b/libavfilter/vf_scale.c
index 5cc9e9e710..04b8d10663 100644
--- a/libavfilter/vf_scale.c
+++ b/libavfilter/vf_scale.c
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ static int config_props(AVFilterLink *outlink)
     scale->isws[1] = sws_getContext(inlink ->w, inlink ->h/2, inlink ->format,
                                     outlink->w, outlink->h/2, outlink->format,
                                     scale->flags, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    if (!scale->sws)
+    if (!scale->sws || !scale->isws[0] || !scale->isws[1])
         return AVERROR(EINVAL);
 
     if (inlink->sample_aspect_ratio.num){