diff --git a/vp9/encoder/vp9_pickmode.c b/vp9/encoder/vp9_pickmode.c
index 699e70784c57a744617c1efb13befe65dc0e0b7a..3a9f0f5f12e4244bd55898d56c9dd32e95fa4815 100644
--- a/vp9/encoder/vp9_pickmode.c
+++ b/vp9/encoder/vp9_pickmode.c
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ int64_t vp9_pick_inter_mode(VP9_COMP *cpi, MACROBLOCK *x,
 
   // Perform intra prediction search, if the best SAD is above a certain
   // threshold.
-  if (best_rd > inter_mode_thresh) {
+  if (best_rd > inter_mode_thresh && bsize < cpi->sf.max_intra_bsize) {
     for (this_mode = DC_PRED; this_mode <= DC_PRED; ++this_mode) {
       vp9_predict_intra_block(xd, 0, b_width_log2(bsize),
                               mbmi->tx_size, this_mode,