diff --git a/net/sched/act_pedit.c b/net/sched/act_pedit.c
index c3434e902445..63d3b0ac43fb 100644
--- a/net/sched/act_pedit.c
+++ b/net/sched/act_pedit.c
@@ -50,13 +50,14 @@ static int tcf_pedit_init(struct net *net, struct nlattr *nla,
 	if (tb[TCA_PEDIT_PARMS] == NULL)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	parm = nla_data(tb[TCA_PEDIT_PARMS]);
+	if (!parm->nkeys)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	ksize = parm->nkeys * sizeof(struct tc_pedit_key);
 	if (nla_len(tb[TCA_PEDIT_PARMS]) < sizeof(*parm) + ksize)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	if (!tcf_hash_check(parm->index, a, bind)) {
-		if (!parm->nkeys)
-			return -EINVAL;
 		ret = tcf_hash_create(parm->index, est, a, sizeof(*p),
 				      bind, false);
 		if (ret)