diff --git a/fs/io_uring.c b/fs/io_uring.c
index 525b44140d7a33567fb9efe3b9d368bef2f4fa56..ed641dca795738e363ea712a81b1c422d02226e1 100644
--- a/fs/io_uring.c
+++ b/fs/io_uring.c
@@ -7997,7 +7997,7 @@ static void io_sq_offload_start(struct io_ring_ctx *ctx)
 	struct io_sq_data *sqd = ctx->sq_data;
 
 	ctx->flags &= ~IORING_SETUP_R_DISABLED;
-	if ((ctx->flags & IORING_SETUP_SQPOLL) && sqd->thread)
+	if ((ctx->flags & IORING_SETUP_SQPOLL) && sqd && sqd->thread)
 		wake_up_process(sqd->thread);
 }