diff --git a/drivers/base/cpu.c b/drivers/base/cpu.c
index 4c358bc44c72..6bfaaca6955e 100644
--- a/drivers/base/cpu.c
+++ b/drivers/base/cpu.c
@@ -43,11 +43,14 @@ static int __ref cpu_subsys_online(struct device *dev)
 	struct cpu *cpu = container_of(dev, struct cpu, dev);
 	int cpuid = dev->id;
 	int from_nid, to_nid;
-	int ret;
+	int ret = -ENODEV;
 
 	cpu_hotplug_driver_lock();
 
 	from_nid = cpu_to_node(cpuid);
+	if (from_nid == NUMA_NO_NODE)
+		goto out;
+
 	ret = cpu_up(cpuid);
 	/*
 	 * When hot adding memory to memoryless node and enabling a cpu
@@ -57,6 +60,7 @@ static int __ref cpu_subsys_online(struct device *dev)
 	if (from_nid != to_nid)
 		change_cpu_under_node(cpu, from_nid, to_nid);
 
+ out:
 	cpu_hotplug_driver_unlock();
 	return ret;
 }