diff --git a/net/9p/trans_virtio.c b/net/9p/trans_virtio.c
index 06dcd3c..8ca356e 100644
--- a/net/9p/trans_virtio.c
+++ b/net/9p/trans_virtio.c
@@ -654,6 +654,9 @@ p9_virtio_create(struct p9_client *client, const char *devname, char *args)
 	int ret = -ENOENT;
 	int found = 0;
 
+	if (devname == NULL)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	mutex_lock(&virtio_9p_lock);
 	list_for_each_entry(chan, &virtio_chan_list, chan_list) {
 		if (!strncmp(devname, chan->tag, chan->tag_len) &&