diff --git a/ipc/shm.c b/ipc/shm.c
index cb2cedaa8808..a0ed957cefc9 100644
--- a/ipc/shm.c
+++ b/ipc/shm.c
@@ -1288,8 +1288,7 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE1(shmdt, char __user *, shmaddr)
 #else /* CONFIG_MMU */
 	/* under NOMMU conditions, the exact address to be destroyed must be
 	 * given */
-	retval = -EINVAL;
-	if (vma->vm_start == addr && vma->vm_ops == &shm_vm_ops) {
+	if (vma && vma->vm_start == addr && vma->vm_ops == &shm_vm_ops) {
 		do_munmap(mm, vma->vm_start, vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start);
 		retval = 0;
 	}