diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
index 74bd05e5dda2..e7a894ba5c3e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
@@ -1497,8 +1497,8 @@ static ssize_t outlen_write(struct file *filp, const char __user *buf,
 		return -EFAULT;
 
 	err = sscanf(outlen_str, "%d", &outlen);
-	if (err < 0)
-		return err;
+	if (err != 1)
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	ptr = kzalloc(outlen, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!ptr)