diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/core/sa_query.c b/drivers/infiniband/core/sa_query.c
index d271bd715c12920a9a0e907f28865e1e120a816e..312c8ff5ae888a44ad0c9c34ac5e1138ac4b18a4 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/core/sa_query.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/core/sa_query.c
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ static int alloc_mad(struct ib_sa_query *query, gfp_t gfp_mask)
 					    query->sm_ah->pkey_index,
 					    0, IB_MGMT_SA_HDR, IB_MGMT_SA_DATA,
 					    gfp_mask);
-	if (!query->mad_buf) {
+	if (IS_ERR(query->mad_buf)) {
 		kref_put(&query->sm_ah->ref, free_sm_ah);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}