diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c
index 900edaf5d68e..33e78f56123e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c
@@ -987,7 +987,7 @@ int ttm_bo_validate(struct ttm_buffer_object *bo,
 	/*
 	 * We might need to add a TTM.
 	 */
-	if (bo->resource->mem_type == TTM_PL_SYSTEM) {
+	if (!bo->resource || bo->resource->mem_type == TTM_PL_SYSTEM) {
 		ret = ttm_tt_create(bo, true);
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;