diff --git a/modules/videoio/src/cap_ffmpeg_impl.hpp b/modules/videoio/src/cap_ffmpeg_impl.hpp
index 4f743ec76c..50ac0a4229 100644
--- a/modules/videoio/src/cap_ffmpeg_impl.hpp
+++ b/modules/videoio/src/cap_ffmpeg_impl.hpp
@@ -1269,7 +1269,8 @@ static AVStream *icv_add_video_stream_FFMPEG(AVFormatContext *oc,
       c->gop_size = -1;
       c->qmin = -1;
       c->bit_rate = 0;
-      av_opt_set(c->priv_data,"crf","23", 0);
+      if (c->priv_data)
+          av_opt_set(c->priv_data,"crf","23", 0);
     }
 #endif