diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_tunnel.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_tunnel.c
index 5db8d310f9c0..0e51f68ab163 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_tunnel.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_tunnel.c
@@ -1564,7 +1564,7 @@ static int ip6_tnl_validate(struct nlattr *tb[], struct nlattr *data[])
 {
 	u8 proto;
 
-	if (!data)
+	if (!data || !data[IFLA_IPTUN_PROTO])
 		return 0;
 
 	proto = nla_get_u8(data[IFLA_IPTUN_PROTO]);