diff --git a/drivers/mtd/nand/sunxi_nand.c b/drivers/mtd/nand/sunxi_nand.c
index d2b7457d447f..e414b31b71c1 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/nand/sunxi_nand.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/nand/sunxi_nand.c
@@ -1814,13 +1814,13 @@ static int sunxi_nand_hw_common_ecc_ctrl_init(struct mtd_info *mtd,
 	int ret;
 	int i;
 
+	if (ecc->size != 512 && ecc->size != 1024)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	data = kzalloc(sizeof(*data), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!data)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (ecc->size != 512 && ecc->size != 1024)
-		return -EINVAL;
-
 	/* Prefer 1k ECC chunk over 512 ones */
 	if (ecc->size == 512 && mtd->writesize > 512) {
 		ecc->size = 1024;