diff --git a/net/9p/trans_fd.c b/net/9p/trans_fd.c
index 12ecacf0c55f..60eb9a2b209b 100644
--- a/net/9p/trans_fd.c
+++ b/net/9p/trans_fd.c
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ p9_fd_create_unix(struct p9_client *client, const char *addr, char *args)
 
 	csocket = NULL;
 
-	if (addr == NULL)
+	if (!addr || !strlen(addr))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	if (strlen(addr) >= UNIX_PATH_MAX) {