diff --git a/drivers/net/tun.c b/drivers/net/tun.c
index 0260bc15bc0c..7a0d5e928bec 100644
--- a/drivers/net/tun.c
+++ b/drivers/net/tun.c
@@ -1570,9 +1570,9 @@ static void tun_setup(struct net_device *dev)
  */
 static int tun_validate(struct nlattr *tb[], struct nlattr *data[])
 {
-	if (!data)
-		return 0;
-	return -EINVAL;
+	/* NL_SET_ERR_MSG(extack,
+		       "tun/tap creation via rtnetlink is not supported."); */
+	return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 }
 
 static struct rtnl_link_ops tun_link_ops __read_mostly = {