diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index 57707f01bcfb72..c34bd44e8be947 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -1201,8 +1201,8 @@ static unsigned long kmem_cache_flags(unsigned long object_size,
 	/*
 	 * Enable debugging if selected on the kernel commandline.
 	 */
-	if (slub_debug && (!slub_debug_slabs ||
-		!strncmp(slub_debug_slabs, name, strlen(slub_debug_slabs))))
+	if (slub_debug && (!slub_debug_slabs || (name &&
+		!strncmp(slub_debug_slabs, name, strlen(slub_debug_slabs)))))
 		flags |= slub_debug;
 
 	return flags;