diff --git a/drivers/dma/dw-axi-dmac/dw-axi-dmac-platform.c b/drivers/dma/dw-axi-dmac/dw-axi-dmac-platform.c
index a1ce307c502fa..0b970b91750c5 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/dw-axi-dmac/dw-axi-dmac-platform.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/dw-axi-dmac/dw-axi-dmac-platform.c
@@ -551,6 +551,11 @@ static noinline void axi_chan_handle_err(struct axi_dma_chan *chan, u32 status)
 
 	/* The bad descriptor currently is in the head of vc list */
 	vd = vchan_next_desc(&chan->vc);
+	if (!vd) {
+		dev_err(chan2dev(chan), "BUG: %s, IRQ with no descriptors\n",
+			axi_chan_name(chan));
+		goto out;
+	}
 	/* Remove the completed descriptor from issued list */
 	list_del(&vd->node);
 
@@ -565,6 +570,7 @@ static noinline void axi_chan_handle_err(struct axi_dma_chan *chan, u32 status)
 	/* Try to restart the controller */
 	axi_chan_start_first_queued(chan);
 
+out:
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&chan->vc.lock, flags);
 }