diff --git a/net/smc/smc_clc.c b/net/smc/smc_clc.c
index c38fc7bf0a7e..014d527d5462 100644
--- a/net/smc/smc_clc.c
+++ b/net/smc/smc_clc.c
@@ -788,8 +788,8 @@ int smc_clc_wait_msg(struct smc_sock *smc, void *buf, int buflen,
 		dclc = (struct smc_clc_msg_decline *)clcm;
 		reason_code = SMC_CLC_DECL_PEERDECL;
 		smc->peer_diagnosis = ntohl(dclc->peer_diagnosis);
-		if (((struct smc_clc_msg_decline *)buf)->hdr.typev2 &
-						SMC_FIRST_CONTACT_MASK) {
+		if ((dclc->hdr.typev2 & SMC_FIRST_CONTACT_MASK) &&
+		    smc->conn.lgr) {
 			smc->conn.lgr->sync_err = 1;
 			smc_lgr_terminate_sched(smc->conn.lgr);
 		}