diff --git a/src/common/ffmpeg.cpp b/src/common/ffmpeg.cpp
index c1ceb092..5f0f27a3 100644
--- a/src/common/ffmpeg.cpp
+++ b/src/common/ffmpeg.cpp
@@ -126,11 +126,17 @@ MediaRet MediaRecorder::setup_sound_stream(const char *fname, AVOutputFormat *fm
 
     AVCodec *codec = avcodec_find_encoder(fmt->audio_codec);
 
+    if (!codec) {
+	avformat_free_context(oc);
+	oc = NULL;
+	return MRET_ERR_NOCODEC;
+    }
+
     ctx = aud_st->codec;
     ctx->codec_id = fmt->audio_codec;
     ctx->codec_type = AVMEDIA_TYPE_AUDIO;
     // Some encoders don't like int16_t (SAMPLE_FMT_S16)
-    if(!codec) ctx->sample_fmt = codec->sample_fmts[0];
+    ctx->sample_fmt = codec->sample_fmts[0];
     // This was changed in the initial ffmpeg 3.0 update,
     // but shouldn't (as far as I'm aware) cause problems with older versions
     ctx->bit_rate = 128000; // arbitrary; in case we're generating mp3
@@ -142,9 +148,9 @@ MediaRet MediaRecorder::setup_sound_stream(const char *fname, AVOutputFormat *fm
 	ctx->flags |= CODEC_FLAG_GLOBAL_HEADER;
 
 #if LIBAVCODEC_VERSION_INT < AV_VERSION_INT(53,6,0)
-    if(!codec || avcodec_open(ctx, codec)) {
+    if(avcodec_open(ctx, codec)) {
 #else
-    if(!codec || avcodec_open2(ctx, codec, NULL)) {
+    if(avcodec_open2(ctx, codec, NULL)) {
 #endif
 	avformat_free_context(oc);
 	oc = NULL;