diff --git a/libavformat/iamf_writer.c b/libavformat/iamf_writer.c
index 897b06310f..e0c47b5e9d 100644
--- a/libavformat/iamf_writer.c
+++ b/libavformat/iamf_writer.c
@@ -251,8 +251,6 @@ int ff_iamf_add_audio_element(IAMFContext *iamf, const AVStreamGroup *stg, void
         int nb_channels = iamf_audio_element->layers[i]->ch_layout.nb_channels;
 
         IAMFLayer *layer = &audio_element->layers[i];
-        if (!layer)
-            return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
         memset(layer, 0, sizeof(*layer));
 
         if (i)