diff --git a/packager/mpd/base/mpd_builder.cc b/packager/mpd/base/mpd_builder.cc
index f09381601e..e2241dc2e3 100644
--- a/packager/mpd/base/mpd_builder.cc
+++ b/packager/mpd/base/mpd_builder.cc
@@ -342,6 +342,8 @@ float MpdBuilder::GetStaticMpdDuration() {
 bool MpdBuilder::GetEarliestTimestamp(double* timestamp_seconds) {
   DCHECK(timestamp_seconds);
   DCHECK(!periods_.empty());
+  if (periods_.empty())
+    return false;
   double timestamp = 0;
   double earliest_timestamp = -1;
   // TODO(kqyang): This is used to set availabilityStartTime. We may consider