diff --git a/sound/soc/intel/atom/sst/sst_loader.c b/sound/soc/intel/atom/sst/sst_loader.c
index 27413ebae956..b8c456753f01 100644
--- a/sound/soc/intel/atom/sst/sst_loader.c
+++ b/sound/soc/intel/atom/sst/sst_loader.c
@@ -354,14 +354,14 @@ static int sst_request_fw(struct intel_sst_drv *sst)
 	const struct firmware *fw;
 
 	retval = request_firmware(&fw, sst->firmware_name, sst->dev);
-	if (fw == NULL) {
-		dev_err(sst->dev, "fw is returning as null\n");
-		return -EINVAL;
-	}
 	if (retval) {
 		dev_err(sst->dev, "request fw failed %d\n", retval);
 		return retval;
 	}
+	if (fw == NULL) {
+		dev_err(sst->dev, "fw is returning as null\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 	mutex_lock(&sst->sst_lock);
 	retval = sst_cache_and_parse_fw(sst, fw);
 	mutex_unlock(&sst->sst_lock);