diff --git a/src/libraries/System.Windows.Extensions/src/System/Media/SoundPlayer.cs b/src/libraries/System.Windows.Extensions/src/System/Media/SoundPlayer.cs
index e57dff3e55ce2..3b3f21c1a1b5e 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.Windows.Extensions/src/System/Media/SoundPlayer.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.Windows.Extensions/src/System/Media/SoundPlayer.cs
@@ -630,32 +630,22 @@ private unsafe void ValidateSoundFile(string fileName)
 
         private static void ValidateSoundData(byte[] data)
         {
-            int position;
-            short wFormatTag = -1;
-            bool fmtChunkFound = false;
-
-            // the RIFF header should be at least 12 bytes long.
-            if (data.Length < 12)
-            {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException(SR.SoundAPIInvalidWaveHeader);
-            }
-
             // validate the RIFF header
-            if (data[0] != 'R' || data[1] != 'I' || data[2] != 'F' || data[3] != 'F')
-            {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException(SR.SoundAPIInvalidWaveHeader);
-            }
-            if (data[8] != 'W' || data[9] != 'A' || data[10] != 'V' || data[11] != 'E')
+            if (data.Length < 12 ||
+                !data.AsSpan().StartsWith("RIFF"u8) ||
+                !data.AsSpan(8).StartsWith("WAVE"u8))
             {
                 throw new InvalidOperationException(SR.SoundAPIInvalidWaveHeader);
             }
 
             // we only care about "fmt " chunk
-            position = 12;
+            int position = 12;
             int len = data.Length;
+            short wFormatTag = -1;
+            bool fmtChunkFound = false;
             while (!fmtChunkFound && position < len - 8)
             {
-                if (data[position] == (byte)'f' && data[position + 1] == (byte)'m' && data[position + 2] == (byte)'t' && data[position + 3] == (byte)' ')
+                if (data.AsSpan(position).StartsWith("fmt "u8))
                 {
                     // fmt chunk
                     fmtChunkFound = true;