diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
index bce0e8bb7852..3b54efa4b1ec 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ static long compat_i2cdev_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned lo
 				   sizeof(rdwr_arg)))
 			return -EFAULT;
 
-		if (rdwr_arg.nmsgs > I2C_RDWR_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS)
+		if (!rdwr_arg.nmsgs || rdwr_arg.nmsgs > I2C_RDWR_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS)
 			return -EINVAL;
 
 		rdwr_pa = kmalloc_array(rdwr_arg.nmsgs, sizeof(struct i2c_msg),