diff --git a/drivers/staging/hv/Channel.c b/drivers/staging/hv/Channel.c
index fdd441174f237b8ea5a0e3501dbf63c699384fce..bd1a33608fcf1ba097b66e5d8ac23a8f77f4ce12 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/hv/Channel.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/hv/Channel.c
@@ -258,7 +258,11 @@ int VmbusChannelOpen(struct vmbus_channel *NewChannel, u32 SendRingBufferSize,
 						  PAGE_SHIFT;
 	openMsg->ServerContextAreaGpadlHandle = 0; /* TODO */
 
-	ASSERT(UserDataLen <= MAX_USER_DEFINED_BYTES);
+	if (UserDataLen > MAX_USER_DEFINED_BYTES) {
+		err = -EINVAL;
+		goto errorout;
+	}
+
 	if (UserDataLen)
 		memcpy(openMsg->UserData, UserData, UserDataLen);