diff --git a/hw/audio/lm4549.c b/hw/audio/lm4549.c
index 745441bd79..bf711c49c0 100644
--- a/hw/audio/lm4549.c
+++ b/hw/audio/lm4549.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "hw/hw.h"
+#include "qemu/log.h"
 #include "qemu/audio.h"
 #include "lm4549.h"
 #include "migration/vmstate.h"
@@ -179,9 +180,23 @@ void lm4549_write(lm4549_state *s,
         break;
 
     case LM4549_PCM_Front_DAC_Rate:
-        regfile[LM4549_PCM_Front_DAC_Rate] = value;
         DPRINTF("DAC rate change = %i\n", value);
 
+        /*
+         * Valid sample rates are 4kHz to 48kHz.
+         * The datasheet doesn't say what happens if you try to
+         * set the frequency to zero. AUD_open_out() will print
+         * a bug message if we pass it a zero frequency, so just
+         * ignore attempts to set the DAC frequency to zero.
+         */
+        if (value < 4000 || value > 48000) {
+            qemu_log_mask(LOG_GUEST_ERROR,
+                          "%s: DAC sample rate %d Hz is invalid, ignoring it\n",
+                          __func__, value);
+            break;
+        }
+        regfile[LM4549_PCM_Front_DAC_Rate] = value;
+
         /* Re-open a voice with the new sample rate */
         struct audsettings as;
         as.freq = value;