diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index a94e0b02a8ac..40b225f87d5e 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -210,7 +210,9 @@ struct neighbour *ip6_neigh_lookup(const struct in6_addr *gw,
 	n = __ipv6_neigh_lookup(dev, daddr);
 	if (n)
 		return n;
-	return neigh_create(&nd_tbl, daddr, dev);
+
+	n = neigh_create(&nd_tbl, daddr, dev);
+	return IS_ERR(n) ? NULL : n;
 }
 
 static struct neighbour *ip6_dst_neigh_lookup(const struct dst_entry *dst,