diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
index 5e311e6a31d5..713c8c62c638 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_output.c
@@ -2071,6 +2071,9 @@ static bool tcp_can_coalesce_send_queue_head(struct sock *sk, int len)
 	struct sk_buff *skb, *next;
 
 	skb = tcp_send_head(sk);
+	if (!skb)
+		return false;
+
 	tcp_for_write_queue_from_safe(skb, next, sk) {
 		if (len <= skb->len)
 			break;