diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
index e75d8e47f35cab2bdddd1051e6da556ef20eb26c..dac08e2a5a93e69648e3210b59a333d8c62195fb 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
@@ -878,6 +878,7 @@ static struct sk_buff *xfrm_state_netlink(struct sk_buff *in_skb,
 {
 	struct xfrm_dump_info info;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	int err;
 
 	skb = nlmsg_new(NLMSG_DEFAULT_SIZE, GFP_ATOMIC);
 	if (!skb)
@@ -888,9 +889,10 @@ static struct sk_buff *xfrm_state_netlink(struct sk_buff *in_skb,
 	info.nlmsg_seq = seq;
 	info.nlmsg_flags = 0;
 
-	if (dump_one_state(x, 0, &info)) {
+	err = dump_one_state(x, 0, &info);
+	if (err) {
 		kfree_skb(skb);
-		return NULL;
+		return ERR_PTR(err);
 	}
 
 	return skb;