diff --git a/net/core/net_namespace.c b/net/core/net_namespace.c
index 60b88718b1d4..1af25d53f63c 100644
--- a/net/core/net_namespace.c
+++ b/net/core/net_namespace.c
@@ -854,7 +854,8 @@ static int __init net_ns_init(void)
 
 	mutex_unlock(&net_mutex);
 
-	register_pernet_subsys(&net_ns_ops);
+	if (register_pernet_subsys(&net_ns_ops))
+		panic("Could not register network namespace subsystems");
 
 	rtnl_register(PF_UNSPEC, RTM_NEWNSID, rtnl_net_newid, NULL,
 		      RTNL_FLAG_DOIT_UNLOCKED);