diff --git a/libavformat/iamf_parse.c b/libavformat/iamf_parse.c
index 8ea9616ec7..8fe7e1bb0e 100644
--- a/libavformat/iamf_parse.c
+++ b/libavformat/iamf_parse.c
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static int scalable_channel_layout_config(void *s, AVIOContext *pb,
                                                           .nb_channels = substream_count +
                                                                          coupled_substream_count };
 
-        if (i && ch_layout.nb_channels <= audio_element->element->layers[i-1]->ch_layout.nb_channels)
+        if (i && layer->ch_layout.nb_channels <= audio_element->element->layers[i-1]->ch_layout.nb_channels)
             return AVERROR_INVALIDDATA;
 
         for (int j = 0; j < substream_count; j++) {