diff --git a/ffplay.c b/ffplay.c
index b0702ebeb0..651e0cf4f1 100644
--- a/ffplay.c
+++ b/ffplay.c
@@ -2936,7 +2936,7 @@ static int read_thread(void *arg)
         AVStream *st = ic->streams[i];
         enum AVMediaType type = st->codecpar->codec_type;
         st->discard = AVDISCARD_ALL;
-        if (wanted_stream_spec[type] && st_index[type] == -1)
+        if (type >= 0 && wanted_stream_spec[type] && st_index[type] == -1)
             if (avformat_match_stream_specifier(ic, st, wanted_stream_spec[type]) > 0)
                 st_index[type] = i;
     }