diff --git a/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c b/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
index 82865c68cc661412b03f35fb6aca3ab131fab60e..588d5aa14c4167ea2d84ee982a8bb96e5ccf33ea 100644
--- a/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
+++ b/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
@@ -267,8 +267,14 @@ static int tipc_nl_compat_dumpit(struct tipc_nl_compat_cmd_dump *cmd,
 	if (msg->rep_type)
 		tipc_tlv_init(msg->rep, msg->rep_type);
 
-	if (cmd->header)
-		(*cmd->header)(msg);
+	if (cmd->header) {
+		err = (*cmd->header)(msg);
+		if (err) {
+			kfree_skb(msg->rep);
+			msg->rep = NULL;
+			return err;
+		}
+	}
 
 	arg = nlmsg_new(0, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!arg) {