diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
index 8247d21d0432aaffbfa73200e9e959a53be6115c..b945bd3d5d880a32e0a121d44fe74e16c99397f9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/octeontx2/nic/otx2_common.c
@@ -171,9 +171,9 @@ static int otx2_hw_get_mac_addr(struct otx2_nic *pfvf,
 	}
 
 	msghdr = otx2_mbox_get_rsp(&pfvf->mbox.mbox, 0, &req->hdr);
-	if (!msghdr) {
+	if (IS_ERR(msghdr)) {
 		otx2_mbox_unlock(&pfvf->mbox);
-		return -ENOMEM;
+		return PTR_ERR(msghdr);
 	}
 	rsp = (struct nix_get_mac_addr_rsp *)msghdr;
 	ether_addr_copy(netdev->dev_addr, rsp->mac_addr);