A system and method for detection of rate determination algorithm errors in variable rate communications system receivers. The disclosed embodiments prevent rate determination algorithm errors from causing audible artifacts such as screeches or beeps. The disclosed system and method detects frames with incorrectly determined data rates and performs frame erasure processing and/or memory state clean up to prevent propagation of distortion across multiple frames. Frames with incorrectly determined data rates are detected by checking illegal rate transitions, reserved bits, validating unused filter type bit combinations and analyzing relationships between fixed code-book gains and linear prediction coefficient gains.