diff --git a/lib/media/segment_prefetch.js b/lib/media/segment_prefetch.js
index 573bb5b3f6..0b919772b0 100644
--- a/lib/media/segment_prefetch.js
+++ b/lib/media/segment_prefetch.js
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ shaka.media.SegmentPrefetch = class {
       if (reference.isPreload() && reference.endByte != null) {
         prefetchAllowed = false;
       }
+      if (reference.getStatus() ==
+          shaka.media.SegmentReference.Status.MISSING) {
+        prefetchAllowed = false;
+      }
       if (prefetchAllowed && !this.segmentPrefetchMap_.has(reference)) {
         const segmentPrefetchOperation =
           new shaka.media.SegmentPrefetchOperation(this.fetchDispatcher_);