diff --git a/include/linux/netpoll.h b/include/linux/netpoll.h
index e6a2d72e0dc7..533f8a5323a3 100644
--- a/include/linux/netpoll.h
+++ b/include/linux/netpoll.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ static inline void *netpoll_poll_lock(struct napi_struct *napi)
 {
 	struct net_device *dev = napi->dev;
 
-	if (dev && dev->npinfo) {
+	if (dev && rcu_access_pointer(dev->npinfo)) {
 		int owner = smp_processor_id();
 
 		while (cmpxchg(&napi->poll_owner, -1, owner) != -1)