diff --git a/doc/examples/encode_audio.c b/doc/examples/encode_audio.c
index 88d0a6fd46492e259f9eefa7e39d36e133e264a7..ba9ef6ddb8a482ddcc11cc593d7b75cd6f8014f2 100644
--- a/doc/examples/encode_audio.c
+++ b/doc/examples/encode_audio.c
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ static int select_sample_rate(const AVCodec *codec)
 
     p = codec->supported_samplerates;
     while (*p) {
-        best_samplerate = FFMAX(*p, best_samplerate);
+        if (!best_samplerate || abs(44100 - *p) < abs(44100 - best_samplerate))
+            best_samplerate = *p;
         p++;
     }
     return best_samplerate;