diff --git a/libavcodec/mpegvideo.c b/libavcodec/mpegvideo.c
index 15af25d7b7..9b23671952 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mpegvideo.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mpegvideo.c
@@ -1675,6 +1675,7 @@ static int rate_estimate_qscale(MpegEncContext *s)
 
     diff= s->total_bits - wanted_bits;
     br_compensation= (s->bit_rate_tolerance - diff)/s->bit_rate_tolerance;
+    if(br_compensation<=0.0) br_compensation=0.001;
     q/=br_compensation;
 
     qscale= (int)(q + 0.5);