diff --git a/lib/kobject.c b/lib/kobject.c
index 59dbcbdb1c91..29d7738ba590 100644
--- a/lib/kobject.c
+++ b/lib/kobject.c
@@ -269,6 +269,9 @@ int kobject_set_name_vargs(struct kobject *kobj, const char *fmt,
 	if (kobj->name && !fmt)
 		return 0;
 
+	if (!kobj->name && !fmt)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	s = kvasprintf_const(GFP_KERNEL, fmt, vargs);
 	if (!s)
 		return -ENOMEM;