diff --git a/drivers/media/rc/lirc_dev.c b/drivers/media/rc/lirc_dev.c
index 0030ce01babc86dabc92354344d3636c0acc288c..a54ca531d8ef85280c8cf9df7b7b19ac226f7032 100644
--- a/drivers/media/rc/lirc_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/media/rc/lirc_dev.c
@@ -647,6 +647,9 @@ ssize_t lirc_dev_fop_read(struct file *file,
 		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 
+	if (!LIRC_CAN_REC(ir->d.features))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	dev_dbg(ir->d.dev, LOGHEAD "read called\n", ir->d.name, ir->d.minor);
 
 	buf = kzalloc(ir->chunk_size, GFP_KERNEL);