diff --git a/lib_xua/src/core/buffer/decouple/decouple.xc b/lib_xua/src/core/buffer/decouple/decouple.xc
index 4e631dfb..f07f9411 100644
--- a/lib_xua/src/core/buffer/decouple/decouple.xc
+++ b/lib_xua/src/core/buffer/decouple/decouple.xc
@@ -523,6 +523,9 @@ __builtin_unreachable();
                     GET_SHARED_GLOBAL(rdPtr, g_aud_to_host_rdptr);
                     asm volatile("ldw %0, %1[0]":"=r"(datalength):"r"(rdPtr));
 
+                    /* Handle startup case where zero length packets exist */
+                    if(!datalength) break;
+
                     /* Round up datalength */
                     datalength = ((datalength+3) & ~0x3) + 4;