diff --git a/net/bridge/netfilter/ebtables.c b/net/bridge/netfilter/ebtables.c
index fa108c46e851..8a8743d7d6e7 100644
--- a/net/bridge/netfilter/ebtables.c
+++ b/net/bridge/netfilter/ebtables.c
@@ -85,12 +85,13 @@ static inline int ebt_do_match (struct ebt_entry_match *m,
 static inline int ebt_dev_check(char *entry, const struct net_device *device)
 {
 	int i = 0;
-	const char *devname = device->name;
+	const char *devname;
 
 	if (*entry == '\0')
 		return 0;
 	if (!device)
 		return 1;
+	devname = device->name;
 	/* 1 is the wildcard token */
 	while (entry[i] != '\0' && entry[i] != 1 && entry[i] == devname[i])
 		i++;