diff --git a/libavformat/nutdec.c b/libavformat/nutdec.c
index 606deaa838..63b0cd2fb9 100644
--- a/libavformat/nutdec.c
+++ b/libavformat/nutdec.c
@@ -1280,6 +1280,8 @@ static int read_seek(AVFormatContext *s, int stream_index,
                             next_node[1]->pos, next_node[1]->pos,
                             next_node[0]->ts, next_node[1]->ts,
                             AVSEEK_FLAG_BACKWARD, &ts, nut_read_timestamp);
+        if (pos < 0)
+            return pos;
 
         if (!(flags & AVSEEK_FLAG_BACKWARD)) {
             dummy.pos    = pos + 16;