diff --git a/net/ceph/auth.c b/net/ceph/auth.c
index 0d75679c6a7e..23d109cb0c6b 100644
--- a/net/ceph/auth.c
+++ b/net/ceph/auth.c
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ int ceph_handle_auth_reply(struct ceph_auth_client *ac,
 			ac->protocol = 0;
 			ac->ops = NULL;
 		}
-		if (ac->protocol != protocol) {
+		if (!ac->protocol) {
 			ret = init_protocol(ac, protocol);
 			if (ret) {
 				pr_err("auth protocol '%s' init failed: %d\n",