diff --git a/src/mod/formats/mod_vlc/mod_vlc.c b/src/mod/formats/mod_vlc/mod_vlc.c
index fe0aeb71f0..3238c884e5 100644
--- a/src/mod/formats/mod_vlc/mod_vlc.c
+++ b/src/mod/formats/mod_vlc/mod_vlc.c
@@ -398,6 +398,11 @@ SWITCH_MODULE_LOAD_FUNCTION(mod_vlc_load)
 	/* load the vlc engine. */
 	read_inst = libvlc_new(1, &vlc_args);
 
+	if ( ! read_inst ) {
+		switch_log_printf(SWITCH_CHANNEL_LOG, SWITCH_LOG_CRIT, "FAILED TO LOAD\n");
+		return SWITCH_STATUS_GENERR;
+	}
+
 	switch_log_printf(SWITCH_CHANNEL_LOG, SWITCH_LOG_DEBUG, "Initialized VLC instance\n");
 
 	/* indicate that the module should continue to be loaded */