diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/fill_buf.c b/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/fill_buf.c
index 56ccbeae0638d..c20d0a7ecbe63 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/fill_buf.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/fill_buf.c
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ static void *malloc_and_init_memory(size_t s)
 	size_t s64;
 
 	void *p = memalign(PAGE_SIZE, s);
+	if (!p)
+		return NULL;
 
 	p64 = (uint64_t *)p;
 	s64 = s / sizeof(uint64_t);