diff --git a/ffmpeg.c b/ffmpeg.c
index 6f909555f9..e7b42906a4 100644
--- a/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/ffmpeg.c
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@ static void ffmpeg_cleanup(int ret)
     if (received_sigterm) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, "Received signal %d: terminating.\n",
                (int) received_sigterm);
-    } else if (ret) {
+    } else if (ret && transcode_init_done) {
         av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_INFO, "Conversion failed!\n");
     }
     term_exit();