diff --git a/libavdevice/v4l2.c b/libavdevice/v4l2.c
index 446a243cf8..365bacd771 100644
--- a/libavdevice/v4l2.c
+++ b/libavdevice/v4l2.c
@@ -811,7 +811,8 @@ static int device_try_init(AVFormatContext *ctx,
     }
 
     *codec_id = ff_fmt_v4l2codec(*desired_format);
-    av_assert0(*codec_id != AV_CODEC_ID_NONE);
+    if (*codec_id == AV_CODEC_ID_NONE)
+        av_assert0(ret == AVERROR(EINVAL));
     return ret;
 }