diff --git a/tools/probetest.c b/tools/probetest.c
index dd1a0bcabb003111b6b89ac581a291329df2e128..b685e3d6c2dfc4371281e71148c4e612e7658680 100644
--- a/tools/probetest.c
+++ b/tools/probetest.c
@@ -110,6 +110,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         pd.buf      = av_realloc(pd.buf, size + AVPROBE_PADDING_SIZE);
         pd.filename = "";
 
+        if (!pd.buf) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "out of memory\n");
+            return 1;
+        }
+
         memset(pd.buf, 0, size + AVPROBE_PADDING_SIZE);
 
         fprintf(stderr, "testing size=%d\n", size);