diff --git a/net/nfc/nci/core.c b/net/nfc/nci/core.c
index 0d26c8ec9993..b7a020484131 100644
--- a/net/nfc/nci/core.c
+++ b/net/nfc/nci/core.c
@@ -1516,7 +1516,7 @@ static void nci_rx_work(struct work_struct *work)
 		nfc_send_to_raw_sock(ndev->nfc_dev, skb,
 				     RAW_PAYLOAD_NCI, NFC_DIRECTION_RX);
 
-		if (!nci_plen(skb->data)) {
+		if (!skb->len || !nci_plen(skb->data)) {
 			kfree_skb(skb);
 			break;
 		}