diff --git a/drivers/ptp/ptp_chardev.c b/drivers/ptp/ptp_chardev.c
index 3f7a7478880240..e95a6ed130ef44 100644
--- a/drivers/ptp/ptp_chardev.c
+++ b/drivers/ptp/ptp_chardev.c
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ long ptp_ioctl(struct posix_clock_context *pccontext, unsigned int cmd,
 	int enable, err = 0;
 
 	tsevq = pccontext->private_clkdata;
+	if (!tsevq)
+		return -EINVAL;
 
 	switch (cmd) {