diff --git a/net/smc/smc_clc.c b/net/smc/smc_clc.c
index 6d7451a24ee90c8ba69d75c908f9e7b9581416b2..e29726e04c31e99473c4f61cedb5f2fa18e7280b 100644
--- a/net/smc/smc_clc.c
+++ b/net/smc/smc_clc.c
@@ -796,8 +796,8 @@ int smc_clc_wait_msg(struct smc_sock *smc, void *buf, int buflen,
 		dclc = (struct smc_clc_msg_decline *)clcm;
 		reason_code = SMC_CLC_DECL_PEERDECL;
 		smc->peer_diagnosis = ntohl(dclc->peer_diagnosis);
-		if (((struct smc_clc_msg_decline *)buf)->hdr.typev2 &
-						SMC_FIRST_CONTACT_MASK)
+		if ((dclc->hdr.typev2 & SMC_FIRST_CONTACT_MASK) &&
+		    smc->conn.lgr)
 			smc->conn.lgr->sync_err = 1;
 	}