diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index 02e557eb05a444cc4bfe01ea7383932a088b0fc3..4f9a2b76efad84428d8cf836fe925d16115343fd 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -674,6 +674,7 @@ int attribute_align_arg avcodec_open2(AVCodecContext *avctx, const AVCodec *code
         av_freep(&avctx->subtitle_header);
 
     if (avctx->channels > FF_SANE_NB_CHANNELS) {
+        av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Too many channels: %d\n", avctx->channels);
         ret = AVERROR(EINVAL);
         goto free_and_end;
     }