diff --git a/libavcodec/ac3enc.c b/libavcodec/ac3enc.c
index 636ca72050..e7e18af92d 100644
--- a/libavcodec/ac3enc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/ac3enc.c
@@ -1800,7 +1800,7 @@ static int validate_float_option(float v, const float *v_list, int v_list_size)
             break;
     }
     if (i == v_list_size)
-        return -1;
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
 
     return i;
 }