diff --git a/ipc/shm.c b/ipc/shm.c
index 8c9402d..de389e6 100644
--- a/ipc/shm.c
+++ b/ipc/shm.c
@@ -1042,7 +1042,8 @@
 			  is_file_hugepages(shp->shm_file) ?
 				&shm_file_operations_huge :
 				&shm_file_operations);
-	if (!file)
+	err = PTR_ERR(file);
+	if (IS_ERR(file))
 		goto out_free;
 
 	file->private_data = sfd;