diff --git a/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c b/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
index e5ec86dd8dc107..a8dd585fcc3899 100644
--- a/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
+++ b/net/tipc/netlink_compat.c
@@ -256,13 +256,15 @@ static int tipc_nl_compat_dumpit(struct tipc_nl_compat_cmd_dump *cmd,
 	arg = nlmsg_new(0, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!arg) {
 		kfree_skb(msg->rep);
+		msg->rep = NULL;
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
 	err = __tipc_nl_compat_dumpit(cmd, msg, arg);
-	if (err)
+	if (err) {
 		kfree_skb(msg->rep);
-
+		msg->rep = NULL;
+	}
 	kfree_skb(arg);
 
 	return err;