diff --git a/src/enc/alpha.c b/src/enc/alpha.c
index 97538da9..51a8cd10 100644
--- a/src/enc/alpha.c
+++ b/src/enc/alpha.c
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ static int EncodeLossless(const uint8_t* const data, int width, int height,
   config.quality = 10.f + 15.f * effort_level;
   if (config.quality > 100.f) config.quality = 100.f;
 
-  VP8LBitWriterInit(&tmp_bw, (width * height) >> 3);
-  ok = (VP8LEncodeStream(&config, &picture, &tmp_bw) == VP8_ENC_OK);
+  ok = VP8LBitWriterInit(&tmp_bw, (width * height) >> 3);
+  ok = ok && (VP8LEncodeStream(&config, &picture, &tmp_bw) == VP8_ENC_OK);
   WebPPictureFree(&picture);
   if (ok) {
     const uint8_t* const data = VP8LBitWriterFinish(&tmp_bw);
diff --git a/src/enc/vp8l.c b/src/enc/vp8l.c
index f40b5e3f..9778e5e8 100644
--- a/src/enc/vp8l.c
+++ b/src/enc/vp8l.c
@@ -1050,11 +1050,17 @@ int VP8LEncodeImage(const WebPConfig* const config,
 
   if (config == NULL || picture->argb == NULL) {
     err = VP8_ENC_ERROR_NULL_PARAMETER;
-    goto Error;
+    WebPEncodingSetError(picture, err);
+    return 0;
   }
 
   width = picture->width;
   height = picture->height;
+  if (!VP8LBitWriterInit(&bw, (width * height) >> 1)) {
+    err = VP8_ENC_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
+    goto Error;
+  }
+
   if (!WebPReportProgress(picture, 1, &percent)) {
  UserAbort:
     err = VP8_ENC_ERROR_USER_ABORT;
@@ -1072,7 +1078,6 @@ int VP8LEncodeImage(const WebPConfig* const config,
   }
 
   // Write image size.
-  VP8LBitWriterInit(&bw, (width * height) >> 1);
   if (!WriteImageSize(picture, &bw)) {
     err = VP8_ENC_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
     goto Error;