diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_ethtool.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_ethtool.c
index fea42542be2806853cc5d7d845ad5d8b41f7f052..06811c60d598e16a6d8bd8a739ead87c757d7b65 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_ethtool.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/microchip/lan966x/lan966x_ethtool.c
@@ -716,6 +716,9 @@ int lan966x_stats_init(struct lan966x *lan966x)
 	snprintf(queue_name, sizeof(queue_name), "%s-stats",
 		 dev_name(lan966x->dev));
 	lan966x->stats_queue = create_singlethread_workqueue(queue_name);
+	if (!lan966x->stats_queue)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&lan966x->stats_work, lan966x_check_stats_work);
 	queue_delayed_work(lan966x->stats_queue, &lan966x->stats_work,
 			   LAN966X_STATS_CHECK_DELAY);