diff --git a/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c b/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
index f6e73a25ee7a..858edd57e011 100644
--- a/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
+++ b/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
@@ -599,8 +599,9 @@ static ssize_t proc_sys_call_handler(struct file *filp, void __user *ubuf,
 		goto out;
 
 	/* don't even try if the size is too large */
-	if (count > KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE)
-		return -ENOMEM;
+	error = -ENOMEM;
+	if (count >= KMALLOC_MAX_SIZE)
+		goto out;
 
 	if (write) {
 		kbuf = memdup_user_nul(ubuf, count);
@@ -609,7 +610,6 @@ static ssize_t proc_sys_call_handler(struct file *filp, void __user *ubuf,
 			goto out;
 		}
 	} else {
-		error = -ENOMEM;
 		kbuf = kzalloc(count, GFP_KERNEL);
 		if (!kbuf)
 			goto out;