diff --git a/libavcodec/mace.c b/libavcodec/mace.c
index 559dcee5673fabfdb3c56d0a135268a0760fa0f2..76118e8f2f4ebd78dd2cab631e0dee3b0c251aa4 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mace.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mace.c
@@ -226,8 +226,8 @@ static void chomp6(ChannelData *chd, int16_t *output, uint8_t val, int tab_idx)
 
 static av_cold int mace_decode_init(AVCodecContext * avctx)
 {
-    if (avctx->channels > 2)
-        return -1;
+    if (avctx->channels > 2 || avctx->channels < 1)
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
     avctx->sample_fmt = AV_SAMPLE_FMT_S16P;
 
     return 0;