diff --git a/recording-daemon/output.c b/recording-daemon/output.c
index 166c09e89..f016d6ecc 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/output.c
+++ b/recording-daemon/output.c
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ int output_add(output_t *output, AVFrame *frame) {
 		return -1;
 	if (!output->encoder) // not ready - not configured
 		return -1;
+	if (!output->fmtctx) // output not open
+		return -1;
 	return encoder_input_fifo(output->encoder, frame, output_got_packet, output, NULL);
 }