diff --git a/src/modules/audio_device/main/source/win/audio_device_wave_win.cc b/src/modules/audio_device/main/source/win/audio_device_wave_win.cc
index 138d67593a..1168e38a56 100644
--- a/src/modules/audio_device/main/source/win/audio_device_wave_win.cc
+++ b/src/modules/audio_device/main/source/win/audio_device_wave_win.cc
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ AudioDeviceWindowsWave::AudioDeviceWindowsWave(const WebRtc_Word32 id) :
     _recError(0),
     _newMicLevel(0),
     _minMicVolume(0),
-    _maxMicVolume(1)
+    _maxMicVolume(0)
 {
     WEBRTC_TRACE(kTraceMemory, kTraceAudioDevice, id, "%s created", __FUNCTION__);
 
@@ -628,18 +628,16 @@ WebRtc_Word32 AudioDeviceWindowsWave::InitMicrophone()
     WebRtc_UWord32 maxVol = 0;
     if (_mixerManager.MaxMicrophoneVolume(maxVol) == -1)
     {
-        WEBRTC_TRACE(kTraceError, kTraceAudioDevice, _id,
+        WEBRTC_TRACE(kTraceWarning, kTraceAudioDevice, _id,
             "  unable to retrieve max microphone volume");
-        return -1;
     }
     _maxMicVolume = maxVol;
 
     WebRtc_UWord32 minVol = 0;
     if (_mixerManager.MinMicrophoneVolume(minVol) == -1)
     {
-        WEBRTC_TRACE(kTraceError, kTraceAudioDevice, _id,
+        WEBRTC_TRACE(kTraceWarning, kTraceAudioDevice, _id,
             "  unable to retrieve min microphone volume");
-        return -1;
     }
     _minMicVolume = minVol;
 
@@ -1304,6 +1302,16 @@ WebRtc_Word32 AudioDeviceWindowsWave::MicrophoneVolume(WebRtc_UWord32& volume) c
 
 WebRtc_Word32 AudioDeviceWindowsWave::MaxMicrophoneVolume(WebRtc_UWord32& maxVolume) const
 {
+    // _maxMicVolume can be zero in AudioMixerManager::MaxMicrophoneVolume():
+    // (1) API GetLineControl() returns failure at querying the max Mic level.
+    // (2) API GetLineControl() returns maxVolume as zero in rare cases.
+    // Both cases show we don't have access to the mixer controls.
+    // We return -1 here to indicate that.    
+    if (_maxMicVolume == 0)
+    {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
     maxVolume = _maxMicVolume;;
     return 0;
 }