diff --git a/libavcodec/msrle.c b/libavcodec/msrle.c
index 750e54ae99..9f0cac61e3 100644
--- a/libavcodec/msrle.c
+++ b/libavcodec/msrle.c
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ static int msrle_decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx,
         uint8_t *buf = avpkt->data + (avctx->height-1)*istride;
         int i, j;
 
+        if (linesize < 0)
+            return linesize;
+
         for (i = 0; i < avctx->height; i++) {
             if (avctx->bits_per_coded_sample == 4) {
                 for (j = 0; j < avctx->width - 1; j += 2) {