diff --git a/libavcodec/pnm.c b/libavcodec/pnm.c
index 1baf1a7d6c..91efbe40d6 100644
--- a/libavcodec/pnm.c
+++ b/libavcodec/pnm.c
@@ -164,8 +164,7 @@ int ff_pnm_decode_header(AVCodecContext *avctx, PNMContext * const s)
             if (avctx->pix_fmt == AV_PIX_FMT_GRAY8) {
                 avctx->pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_GRAY16BE;
             } else if (avctx->pix_fmt == AV_PIX_FMT_RGB24) {
-                if (s->maxval > 255)
-                    avctx->pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_RGB48BE;
+                avctx->pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_RGB48BE;
             } else {
                 av_log(avctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Unsupported pixel format\n");
                 avctx->pix_fmt = AV_PIX_FMT_NONE;