diff --git a/sys/dev/netif/ath/ath_hal/ar5212/ar2316.c b/sys/dev/netif/ath/ath_hal/ar5212/ar2316.c
--- a/sys/dev/netif/ath/ath_hal/ar5212/ar2316.c
+++ b/sys/dev/netif/ath/ath_hal/ar5212/ar2316.c
@@ -528,6 +528,10 @@
 		HALDEBUG(ah, HAL_DEBUG_ANY, "%s: illegal mode\n", __func__);
 		return AH_FALSE;
 	}
+	if (pRawDataset->numChannels == 0) {
+		HALDEBUG(ah, HAL_DEBUG_ANY, "%s: empty raw dataset\n", __func__);
+		return AH_FALSE;
+	}
 
 	pdGainOverlap_t2 = (uint16_t) SM(OS_REG_READ(ah, AR_PHY_TPCRG5),
 					  AR_PHY_TPCRG5_PD_GAIN_OVERLAP);