diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-bio-list.h b/drivers/md/dm-bio-list.h
index bc021e1fd4d14b6d04a465cc6e91c7491032bfb7..bbf4615f0e30d792990208325fa9fa48580ce879 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-bio-list.h
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-bio-list.h
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ static inline void bio_list_add(struct bio_list *bl, struct bio *bio)
 
 static inline void bio_list_merge(struct bio_list *bl, struct bio_list *bl2)
 {
+	if (!bl2->head)
+		return;
+
 	if (bl->tail)
 		bl->tail->bi_next = bl2->head;
 	else