diff --git a/net/sched/em_text.c b/net/sched/em_text.c
index 4132f8c3c5fc..bc45edb8c03b 100644
--- a/net/sched/em_text.c
+++ b/net/sched/em_text.c
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ static int em_text_change(struct net *net, void *data, int len,
 	if (len < sizeof(*conf) || len < (sizeof(*conf) + conf->pattern_len))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
+	if (!memchr(conf->algo, '\0', sizeof(conf->algo)))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	if (conf->from_layer > conf->to_layer)
 		return -EINVAL;