diff --git a/drivers/net/lance.c b/drivers/net/lance.c
index bb5ad47..c1c3452 100644
--- a/drivers/net/lance.c
+++ b/drivers/net/lance.c
@@ -968,8 +968,7 @@
 	/* The old LANCE chips doesn't automatically pad buffers to min. size. */
 	if (chip_table[lp->chip_version].flags & LANCE_MUST_PAD) {
 		if (skb->len < ETH_ZLEN) {
-			skb = skb_padto(skb, ETH_ZLEN);
-			if (skb == NULL)
+			if (skb_padto(skb, ETH_ZLEN))
 				goto out;
 			lp->tx_ring[entry].length = -ETH_ZLEN;
 		}