diff --git a/pupil_src/shared_modules/video_capture/utils.py b/pupil_src/shared_modules/video_capture/utils.py
index b29026d766..2bce5b2a80 100644
--- a/pupil_src/shared_modules/video_capture/utils.py
+++ b/pupil_src/shared_modules/video_capture/utils.py
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ def check_valid(self):
             # 3. decode() yields None
             first_frame = next(cont.decode(video=0), None)
             if first_frame is None:
-                raise av.AVError("Video does not contain any frames")
+                return False  # container does not contain frames
         except av.AVError:
             return False
         else: