diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.cpp b/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.cpp
index e5b2ee8a55..9756d47050 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.cpp
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-metal/ggml-metal.cpp
@@ -204,6 +204,11 @@ static ggml_backend_buffer_t ggml_backend_metal_buffer_type_alloc_buffer(ggml_ba
     ggml_metal_device_t ctx_dev = (ggml_metal_device_t)buft->device->context;
     ggml_metal_buffer_t res = ggml_metal_buffer_init(ctx_dev, size, shared);
 
+    if (res == NULL) {
+        GGML_LOG_ERROR("%s: failed to allocate Metal buffer of %zu bytes (out of memory)\n", __func__, size);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     ggml_backend_buffer_i buf_i = ggml_metal_buffer_is_shared(res)
         ? ggml_backend_metal_buffer_shared_i
         : ggml_backend_metal_buffer_private_i;