diff --git a/security/apparmor/label.c b/security/apparmor/label.c
index 42ed476fe89d..fd67262330f9 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/label.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/label.c
@@ -1954,12 +1954,18 @@ struct aa_label *aa_label_strn_parse(struct aa_label *base, const char *str,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (create)
+	if (create) {
 		label = aa_vec_find_or_create_label(vec, len, gfp);
-	else
+		if (!label) {
+			/* not absence: creating only fails on allocation */
+			label = ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+			goto out;
+		}
+	} else {
 		label = vec_find(vec, len);
-	if (!label)
-		goto fail;
+		if (!label)
+			goto fail;
+	}
 
 out:
 	/* use adjusted len from after vec_unique, not original */