diff --git a/libavcodec/apedec.c b/libavcodec/apedec.c
index d28e51aae6..26056239fd 100644
--- a/libavcodec/apedec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/apedec.c
@@ -1402,7 +1402,6 @@ static int ape_decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, void *data,
     int32_t *sample24;
     int i, ch, ret;
     int blockstodecode;
-    int bytes_used = 0;
 
     /* this should never be negative, but bad things will happen if it is, so
        check it just to make sure. */
@@ -1468,7 +1467,6 @@ static int ape_decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, void *data,
             return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
         }
 
-        bytes_used = avpkt->size;
     }
 
     if (!s->data) {
@@ -1540,7 +1538,7 @@ static int ape_decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx, void *data,
 
     *got_frame_ptr = 1;
 
-    return bytes_used;
+    return (s->samples == 0) ? avpkt->size : 0;
 }
 
 static void ape_flush(AVCodecContext *avctx)