diff --git a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
index 4302093b92c7..8684ba246969 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
@@ -1654,8 +1654,10 @@ struct iio_dev *iio_device_alloc(struct device *parent, int sizeof_priv)
 		return NULL;
 
 	indio_dev = &iio_dev_opaque->indio_dev;
-	indio_dev->priv = (char *)iio_dev_opaque +
-		ALIGN(sizeof(struct iio_dev_opaque), IIO_DMA_MINALIGN);
+
+	if (sizeof_priv)
+		indio_dev->priv = (char *)iio_dev_opaque +
+			ALIGN(sizeof(*iio_dev_opaque), IIO_DMA_MINALIGN);
 
 	indio_dev->dev.parent = parent;
 	indio_dev->dev.type = &iio_device_type;