diff --git a/net/nfc/nci/spi.c b/net/nfc/nci/spi.c
index 9dd8a1096916..96f071792a04 100644
--- a/net/nfc/nci/spi.c
+++ b/net/nfc/nci/spi.c
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ static int send_acknowledge(struct nci_spi *nspi, u8 acknowledge)
 	int ret;
 
 	skb = nci_skb_alloc(nspi->ndev, 0, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!skb)
+		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	/* add the NCI SPI header to the start of the buffer */
 	hdr = skb_push(skb, NCI_SPI_HDR_LEN);