diff --git a/security/commoncap.c b/security/commoncap.c
index 2b221c0ef502a57caeddbd25a79226da071c1658..1fd370e8820f75b0c4056a58d810dd770bb57f78 100644
--- a/security/commoncap.c
+++ b/security/commoncap.c
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ int cap_inode_getsecurity(struct inode *inode, const char *name, void **buffer,
 				 &tmpbuf, size, GFP_NOFS);
 	dput(dentry);
 
-	if (ret < 0)
+	if (ret < 0 || !tmpbuf)
 		return ret;
 
 	fs_ns = inode->i_sb->s_user_ns;