diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/aquantia/atlantic/aq_nic.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/aquantia/atlantic/aq_nic.c
index 019bcc725715f977e71bc670fd3cc263eb8e8b8a..a8a27c5e8aebc1612349754f91f7f35924b8ce55 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/aquantia/atlantic/aq_nic.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/aquantia/atlantic/aq_nic.c
@@ -202,12 +202,13 @@ struct aq_nic_s *aq_nic_alloc_cold(const struct net_device_ops *ndev_ops,
 	int err = 0;
 
 	ndev = aq_nic_ndev_alloc();
-	self = netdev_priv(ndev);
-	if (!self) {
-		err = -EINVAL;
+	if (!ndev) {
+		err = -ENOMEM;
 		goto err_exit;
 	}
 
+	self = netdev_priv(ndev);
+
 	ndev->netdev_ops = ndev_ops;
 	ndev->ethtool_ops = et_ops;