diff --git a/drivers/net/tun.c b/drivers/net/tun.c
index 5f516687be48..e92e86c7748e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/tun.c
+++ b/drivers/net/tun.c
@@ -1570,6 +1570,8 @@ static void tun_setup(struct net_device *dev)
  */
 static int tun_validate(struct nlattr *tb[], struct nlattr *data[])
 {
+	if (!data)
+		return 0;
 	return -EINVAL;
 }