diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/bpf.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/bpf.c
index f60eb97e3a62..89206278b6cc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/bpf.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/bpf.c
@@ -317,9 +317,11 @@ nsim_setup_prog_hw_checks(struct netdevsim *ns, struct netdev_bpf *bpf)
 	}
 
 	state = bpf->prog->aux->offload->dev_priv;
-	if (WARN_ON(strcmp(state->state, "xlated"))) {
-		NSIM_EA(bpf->extack, "offloading program in bad state");
-		return -EINVAL;
+	if(state) {
+		if (WARN_ON(strcmp(state->state, "xlated"))) {
+			NSIM_EA(bpf->extack, "offloading program in bad state");
+			return -EINVAL;
+		}
 	}
 	return 0;
 }