diff --git a/gdk-pixbuf/ChangeLog b/gdk-pixbuf/ChangeLog
index ef78d72341..09a0954a72 100644
--- a/gdk-pixbuf/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdk-pixbuf/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2002-03-12  Matthias Clasen  <maclas@gmx.de>
+
+	* io-bmp.c (DecodeHeader): Replace a g_assert_not_reached ()
+	which could actually be reached by a proper error status return.
+
 2002-03-05  Matthias Clasen  <maclas@gmx.de>
 
 	* test-loaders.c, test-images.h: More random tests. 
diff --git a/gdk-pixbuf/io-bmp.c b/gdk-pixbuf/io-bmp.c
index 7f7c2d1ddf..b8f9ee2bb0 100644
--- a/gdk-pixbuf/io-bmp.c
+++ b/gdk-pixbuf/io-bmp.c
@@ -375,8 +375,14 @@ static gboolean DecodeHeader(unsigned char *BFH, unsigned char *BIH,
 	} else if (State->Compressed == BI_BITFIELDS) {
 		State->read_state = READ_STATE_BITMASKS;
 		State->BufferSize = 12;
-	} else
-		g_assert_not_reached ();
+	} else {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     GDK_PIXBUF_ERROR,
+			     GDK_PIXBUF_ERROR_CORRUPT_IMAGE,
+			     _("BMP image has bogus header data"));
+		State->read_state = READ_STATE_ERROR;
+		return FALSE;
+	}
 
 	State->buff = g_realloc (State->buff, State->BufferSize);