diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/mad.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/mad.c
index c9a8dd63b9e..57ffa50f509 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/mad.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx4/mad.c
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ static void forward_trap(struct mlx4_ib_dev *dev, u8 port_num, struct ib_mad *ma
 	if (agent) {
 		send_buf = ib_create_send_mad(agent, qpn, 0, 0, IB_MGMT_MAD_HDR,
 					      IB_MGMT_MAD_DATA, GFP_ATOMIC);
+		if (IS_ERR(send_buf))
+			return;
 		/*
 		 * We rely here on the fact that MLX QPs don't use the
 		 * address handle after the send is posted (this is