diff --git a/drivers/block/nbd.c b/drivers/block/nbd.c
index d379a047d427..d12e9f1721c8 100644
--- a/drivers/block/nbd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/nbd.c
@@ -2344,6 +2344,12 @@ static int nbd_genl_status(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 	}
 
 	dev_list = nla_nest_start_noflag(reply, NBD_ATTR_DEVICE_LIST);
+	if (!dev_list) {
+		nlmsg_free(reply);
+		ret = -EMSGSIZE;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	if (index == -1) {
 		ret = idr_for_each(&nbd_index_idr, &status_cb, reply);
 		if (ret) {