diff --git a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
index df643ec3ea75..85f42289748d 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
@@ -2593,9 +2593,10 @@ static int kvm_vm_set_mem_attributes(struct kvm *kvm, gfn_t start, gfn_t end,
 
 	/*
 	 * Reserve memory ahead of time to avoid having to deal with failures
-	 * partway through setting the new attributes.
+	 * partway through setting the new attributes.  Storing NULL never
+	 * allocates, so no reservations are needed when clearing.
 	 */
-	for (i = start; i < end; i++) {
+	for (i = start; entry && i < end; i++) {
 		r = xa_reserve(&kvm->mem_attr_array, i, GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT);
 		if (r)
 			goto out_unlock;