diff --git a/fs/io_uring.c b/fs/io_uring.c
index 8f8bb5c7e7913653ed85f7262186f98fd7f67cae..cc69f38c77e5c890df2065a230aecbac3de55148 100644
--- a/fs/io_uring.c
+++ b/fs/io_uring.c
@@ -4280,7 +4280,9 @@ static void io_ring_ctx_wait_and_kill(struct io_ring_ctx *ctx)
 		io_wq_cancel_all(ctx->io_wq);
 
 	io_iopoll_reap_events(ctx);
-	io_cqring_overflow_flush(ctx, true);
+	/* if we failed setting up the ctx, we might not have any rings */
+	if (ctx->rings)
+		io_cqring_overflow_flush(ctx, true);
 	wait_for_completion(&ctx->completions[0]);
 	io_ring_ctx_free(ctx);
 }