diff --git a/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go b/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
index b2f1e5760..0c7a175f4 100644
--- a/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
+++ b/pkg/sfu/downtrack.go
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ func (d *DownTrack) SetTransceiver(transceiver *webrtc.RTPTransceiver) {
 }
 
 func (d *DownTrack) MaybeTranslateVP8(pkt *rtp.Packet, meta packetMeta) error {
-	if d.vp8Munger == nil {
+	if d.vp8Munger == nil || len(pkt.Payload) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}