diff --git a/arch/s390/kernel/debug.c b/arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
index 142dc1487187..3b68f5c58333 100644
--- a/arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
+++ b/arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
@@ -434,7 +434,8 @@ static debug_info_t *debug_info_copy(debug_info_t *in, int mode)
 		debug_info_free(rc);
 	} while (1);
 
-	if (mode == NO_AREAS)
+	/* debug_register_static() failure leaves areas NULL, bounds intact */
+	if (mode == NO_AREAS || !in->areas)
 		goto out;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < in->nr_areas; i++) {