diff --git a/programs/sndfile-deinterleave.c b/programs/sndfile-deinterleave.c
index 5366031075ab..712cb96cda76 100644
--- a/programs/sndfile-deinterleave.c
+++ b/programs/sndfile-deinterleave.c
@@ -89,6 +89,11 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 		exit (1) ;
 		} ;
 
+	if (sfinfo.channels > MAX_CHANNELS)
+	{	printf ("\nError : Too many channels %d in input file '%s'.\n", sfinfo.channels, argv[1]) ;
+		exit (1) ;
+		}
+
 	state.channels = sfinfo.channels ;
 	sfinfo.channels = 1 ;