diff --git a/mm/mmap.c b/mm/mmap.c
index de14ac2..d4855a68 100644
--- a/mm/mmap.c
+++ b/mm/mmap.c
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@
 	vma = find_vma_prev(mm, addr, &prev);
 	if (vma && (vma->vm_start <= addr))
 		return vma;
-	if (expand_stack(prev, addr))
+	if (!prev || expand_stack(prev, addr))
 		return NULL;
 	if (prev->vm_flags & VM_LOCKED) {
 		if (mlock_vma_pages_range(prev, addr, prev->vm_end) < 0)