diff --git a/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension.cc b/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension.cc
index 23b2f3b8a1..be6aadb084 100644
--- a/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension.cc
+++ b/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension.cc
@@ -117,7 +117,8 @@ bool AllocationIsValid(const VideoLayersAllocation& allocation) {
     }
   }
   if (allocation.rtp_stream_index < 0 ||
-      allocation.rtp_stream_index > max_rtp_stream_idx) {
+      (!allocation.active_spatial_layers.empty() &&
+       allocation.rtp_stream_index > max_rtp_stream_idx)) {
     return false;
   }
   return true;
diff --git a/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension_unittest.cc b/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension_unittest.cc
index 23a7961ce8..92e5673441 100644
--- a/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension_unittest.cc
+++ b/modules/rtp_rtcp/source/rtp_video_layers_allocation_extension_unittest.cc
@@ -239,5 +239,15 @@ TEST(RtpVideoLayersAllocationExtension,
   EXPECT_EQ(written_allocation, parsed_allocation);
 }
 
+TEST(RtpVideoLayersAllocationExtension,
+     WriteEmptyAllocationCanHaveAnyRtpStreamIndex) {
+  VideoLayersAllocation written_allocation;
+  written_allocation.rtp_stream_index = 1;
+  rtc::Buffer buffer(
+      RtpVideoLayersAllocationExtension::ValueSize(written_allocation));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(
+      RtpVideoLayersAllocationExtension::Write(buffer, written_allocation));
+}
+
 }  // namespace
 }  // namespace webrtc