diff --git a/net/netfilter/nft_bitwise.c b/net/netfilter/nft_bitwise.c
index 7de95674fd8c44eb3ed91746468da231093b5fd0..2cfb0104680c62465ffbf5ce0e402d9742436dae 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nft_bitwise.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nft_bitwise.c
@@ -149,7 +149,8 @@ static int nft_bitwise_init_shift(struct nft_bitwise *priv,
 	if (err < 0)
 		return err;
 
-	if (priv->data.data[0] >= BITS_PER_TYPE(u32)) {
+	if (!priv->data.data[0] ||
+	    priv->data.data[0] >= BITS_PER_TYPE(u32)) {
 		nft_data_release(&priv->data, desc.type);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}