diff --git a/lib/rbcodec/metadata/id3tags.c b/lib/rbcodec/metadata/id3tags.c
index fed99d81a0..3492197c40 100644
--- a/lib/rbcodec/metadata/id3tags.c
+++ b/lib/rbcodec/metadata/id3tags.c
@@ -355,7 +355,8 @@ static int parsealbumart( struct mp3entry* entry, char* tag, int bufferpos )
         /* fixup offset&size for image data */
         entry->albumart.pos  += tag - start;
         entry->albumart.size -= tag - start;
-        entry->has_embedded_albumart = true;
+        /* check for malformed tag with no picture data */
+        entry->has_embedded_albumart = (entry->albumart.size != 0);
     }
     /* return bufferpos as we didn't store anything in id3v2buf */
     return bufferpos;