diff --git a/net/sched/act_ife.c b/net/sched/act_ife.c
index d2932dc4c83d..36e4dcdac8dc 100644
--- a/net/sched/act_ife.c
+++ b/net/sched/act_ife.c
@@ -477,6 +477,9 @@ static int tcf_ife_init(struct net *net, struct nlattr *nla,
 	int ret = 0;
 	int err;
 
+	if (!nla)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	err = nla_parse_nested(tb, TCA_IFE_MAX, nla, ife_policy);
 	if (err < 0)
 		return err;