diff --git a/libavcodec/utils.c b/libavcodec/utils.c
index a96b52d638946b52e5dcf2b329ab917d942989ad..150d90703a68b29b08f757d436b828f07a283a2f 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utils.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utils.c
@@ -1851,6 +1851,8 @@ const char *avcodec_get_name(enum AVCodecID id)
     const AVCodecDescriptor *cd;
     AVCodec *codec;
 
+    if (id == AV_CODEC_ID_NONE)
+        return "none";
     cd = avcodec_descriptor_get(id);
     if (cd)
         return cd->name;