diff --git a/plugins/common/libs/image/libextplugin/src/heif_impl/heif_parser/heif_parser.cpp b/plugins/common/libs/image/libextplugin/src/heif_impl/heif_parser/heif_parser.cpp
index 854b6e922188e96924f0d1ed92997795df718335..4156717c53c17fc41e891624aeca0a1ff23e16e9 100644
--- a/plugins/common/libs/image/libextplugin/src/heif_impl/heif_parser/heif_parser.cpp
+++ b/plugins/common/libs/image/libextplugin/src/heif_impl/heif_parser/heif_parser.cpp
@@ -994,6 +994,9 @@ heif_error HeifParser::SetMetadata(const std::shared_ptr<HeifImage> &image, cons
                                    const char *item_type, const char *content_type)
 {
     auto metadataInfe = AddItem(item_type, true);
+    if (metadataInfe == nullptr) {
+        return heif_invalid_exif_data;
+    }
     if (content_type != nullptr) {
         metadataInfe->SetContentType(content_type);
     }