diff --git a/src/libcamera/v4l2_videodevice.cpp b/src/libcamera/v4l2_videodevice.cpp
index 3d2d99b46e4e..6c7f9daf24db 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/v4l2_videodevice.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/v4l2_videodevice.cpp
@@ -1519,9 +1519,28 @@ FrameBuffer *V4L2VideoDevice::dequeueBuffer()
 
 	LOG(V4L2, Debug) << "Dequeuing buffer " << buf.index;
 
+	auto it = queuedBuffers_.find(buf.index);
+	/*
+	 * If the video node fails to stream-on successfully (which can occur
+	 * when queing a buffer), a vb2 kernel bug can lead to the buffer which
+	 * returns a failure upon queing, being mistakenely kept in the kernel.
+	 * This leads to the kernel notifying us that a buffer is available to
+	 * dequeue, which we have no awareness of being queued, and thus we will
+	 * not find it in the queuedBuffers_ list.
+	 *
+	 * Whilst this is a kernel bug and should be fixed there, ensure that we
+	 * safely ignore buffers which are unexpected to prevent crashes on
+	 * unpatched kernels.
+	 */
+	if (it == queuedBuffers_.end()) {
+		LOG(V4L2, Error)
+			<< "Dequeued an unexpected buffer:" << buf.index;
+
+		return nullptr;
+	}
+
 	cache_->put(buf.index);
 
-	auto it = queuedBuffers_.find(buf.index);
 	FrameBuffer *buffer = it->second;
 	queuedBuffers_.erase(it);