diff --git a/net/tipc/name_distr.c b/net/tipc/name_distr.c
index 61219f0b9677fdd7934040a02d56248c43cf1a5e..836e629e8f4ab8e1932c04c2f5056595a507313a 100644
--- a/net/tipc/name_distr.c
+++ b/net/tipc/name_distr.c
@@ -223,7 +223,8 @@ static void tipc_publ_purge(struct net *net, struct publication *publ, u32 addr)
 		       publ->key);
 	}
 
-	kfree_rcu(p, rcu);
+	if (p)
+		kfree_rcu(p, rcu);
 }
 
 /**