diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
index 306758428aefd7301012306b22727b3496bda9e1..a569d2fcc90af44a682722119112a3947a947e2e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/i40e/i40e_client.c
@@ -361,8 +361,8 @@ static void i40e_client_add_instance(struct i40e_pf *pf)
 	if (i40e_client_get_params(vsi, &cdev->lan_info.params))
 		goto free_cdev;
 
-	mac = list_first_entry(&cdev->lan_info.netdev->dev_addrs.list,
-			       struct netdev_hw_addr, list);
+	mac = list_first_entry_or_null(&cdev->lan_info.netdev->dev_addrs.list,
+				       struct netdev_hw_addr, list);
 	if (mac)
 		ether_addr_copy(cdev->lan_info.lanmac, mac->addr);
 	else