diff --git a/src/dec/vp8l.c b/src/dec/vp8l.c
index 81cf99fc..61f36216 100644
--- a/src/dec/vp8l.c
+++ b/src/dec/vp8l.c
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ static int ReadHuffmanCodeLengths(
 
  End:
   VP8LHuffmanTreeFree(&tree);
+  if (!ok) dec->status_ = VP8_STATUS_BITSTREAM_ERROR;
   return ok;
 }