diff --git a/hw/display/ati.c b/hw/display/ati.c
index 58ec8291d460..9228f1b242bb 100644
--- a/hw/display/ati.c
+++ b/hw/display/ati.c
@@ -285,8 +285,11 @@ static uint64_t ati_mm_read(void *opaque, hwaddr addr, unsigned int size)
             if (idx <= s->vga.vram_size - size) {
                 val = ldn_le_p(s->vga.vram_ptr + idx, size);
             }
-        } else {
+        } else if (s->regs.mm_index > MM_DATA + 3) {
             val = ati_mm_read(s, s->regs.mm_index + addr - MM_DATA, size);
+        } else {
+            qemu_log_mask(LOG_GUEST_ERROR,
+                "ati_mm_read: mm_index too small: %u\n", s->regs.mm_index);
         }
         break;
     case BIOS_0_SCRATCH ... BUS_CNTL - 1:
@@ -520,8 +523,11 @@ static void ati_mm_write(void *opaque, hwaddr addr,
             if (idx <= s->vga.vram_size - size) {
                 stn_le_p(s->vga.vram_ptr + idx, size, data);
             }
-        } else {
+        } else if (s->regs.mm_index > MM_DATA + 3) {
             ati_mm_write(s, s->regs.mm_index + addr - MM_DATA, data, size);
+        } else {
+            qemu_log_mask(LOG_GUEST_ERROR,
+                "ati_mm_write: mm_index too small: %u\n", s->regs.mm_index);
         }
         break;
     case BIOS_0_SCRATCH ... BUS_CNTL - 1: