diff --git a/libavcodec/pngdec.c b/libavcodec/pngdec.c
index 05ba027802..f8ebb1b02d 100644
--- a/libavcodec/pngdec.c
+++ b/libavcodec/pngdec.c
@@ -471,7 +471,8 @@ static int decode_frame(AVCodecContext *avctx,
                     avctx->pix_fmt = PIX_FMT_MONOBLACK;
                 } else if (s->color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE) {
                     avctx->pix_fmt = PIX_FMT_PAL8;
-                } else if (s->color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA) {
+                } else if (s->bit_depth == 8 &&
+                           s->color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA) {
                     avctx->pix_fmt = PIX_FMT_GRAY8A;
                 } else {
                     goto fail;