diff --git a/drivers/net/netconsole.c b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
index 387a133..665341e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netconsole.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
@@ -585,9 +585,8 @@
  * Group operations and type for netconsole_subsys.
  */
 
-static int make_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,
-				  const char *name,
-				  struct config_item **new_item)
+static struct config_item *make_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,
+						  const char *name)
 {
 	unsigned long flags;
 	struct netconsole_target *nt;
@@ -599,7 +598,7 @@
 	nt = kzalloc(sizeof(*nt), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!nt) {
 		printk(KERN_ERR "netconsole: failed to allocate memory\n");
-		return -ENOMEM;
+		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	nt->np.name = "netconsole";
@@ -616,8 +615,7 @@
 	list_add(&nt->list, &target_list);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&target_list_lock, flags);
 
-	*new_item = &nt->item;
-	return 0;
+	return &nt->item;
 }
 
 static void drop_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,