diff --git a/arch/powerpc/mm/lmb.c b/arch/powerpc/mm/lmb.c
index 874cd103ce6ea2e4303d3007620a3169010de994..417d58518558bd0ab31975df7e7d864d6aea3a05 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/mm/lmb.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/mm/lmb.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ unsigned long __init lmb_alloc_base(unsigned long size, unsigned long align,
 
 	alloc = __lmb_alloc_base(size, align, max_addr);
 
-	if (alloc < 0)
+	if (alloc == 0)
 		panic("ERROR: Failed to allocate 0x%lx bytes below 0x%lx.\n",
 				size, max_addr);