diff --git a/fs/kernfs/inode.c b/fs/kernfs/inode.c
index 237dcdd73fc2..abb286bc3474 100644
--- a/fs/kernfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/kernfs/inode.c
@@ -142,10 +142,8 @@ ssize_t kernfs_iop_listxattr(struct dentry *dentry, char *buf, size_t size)
 	struct kernfs_iattrs *attrs;
 
 	attrs = kernfs_iattrs_noalloc(kn);
-	if (!attrs)
-		return 0;
 
-	return simple_xattr_list(d_inode(dentry), &attrs->xattrs, buf, size);
+	return simple_xattr_list(d_inode(dentry), attrs ? &attrs->xattrs : NULL, buf, size);
 }
 
 static inline void set_default_inode_attr(struct inode *inode, umode_t mode)