diff --git a/kernel/relay.c b/kernel/relay.c
index 9e0f52375487d7be47ee4c265ee0cbd5227186d0..078f733bebae7378a4054396bff8c404849b005c 100644
--- a/kernel/relay.c
+++ b/kernel/relay.c
@@ -581,6 +581,10 @@ struct rchan *relay_open(const char *base_filename,
 		return NULL;
 
 	chan->buf = alloc_percpu(struct rchan_buf *);
+	if (!chan->buf) {
+		kfree(chan);
+		return NULL;
+	}
 	chan->version = RELAYFS_CHANNEL_VERSION;
 	chan->n_subbufs = n_subbufs;
 	chan->subbuf_size = subbuf_size;