diff --git a/net/tipc/name_distr.c b/net/tipc/name_distr.c
index 23f8899e0f8c..7ebcaff8c1c4 100644
--- a/net/tipc/name_distr.c
+++ b/net/tipc/name_distr.c
@@ -224,7 +224,8 @@ 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);
 }
 
 /**