diff --git a/net/tipc/link.c b/net/tipc/link.c
index c7406c1fdc14b..06327f78f2032 100644
--- a/net/tipc/link.c
+++ b/net/tipc/link.c
@@ -877,9 +877,8 @@ void tipc_link_reset(struct tipc_link *l)
 int tipc_link_xmit(struct tipc_link *l, struct sk_buff_head *list,
 		   struct sk_buff_head *xmitq)
 {
-	struct tipc_msg *hdr = buf_msg(skb_peek(list));
 	unsigned int maxwin = l->window;
-	unsigned int i, imp = msg_importance(hdr);
+	unsigned int i;
 	unsigned int mtu = l->mtu;
 	u16 ack = l->rcv_nxt - 1;
 	u16 seqno = l->snd_nxt;
@@ -888,7 +887,13 @@ int tipc_link_xmit(struct tipc_link *l, struct sk_buff_head *list,
 	struct sk_buff_head *backlogq = &l->backlogq;
 	struct sk_buff *skb, *_skb, *bskb;
 	int pkt_cnt = skb_queue_len(list);
+	struct tipc_msg *hdr;
+	int imp;
+
+	if (pkt_cnt <= 0)
+		return 0;
 
+	imp = msg_importance(hdr);
 	/* Match msg importance against this and all higher backlog limits: */
 	if (!skb_queue_empty(backlogq)) {
 		for (i = imp; i <= TIPC_SYSTEM_IMPORTANCE; i++) {
@@ -896,6 +901,8 @@ int tipc_link_xmit(struct tipc_link *l, struct sk_buff_head *list,
 				return link_schedule_user(l, list);
 		}
 	}
+
+	hdr = buf_msg(skb_peek(list));
 	if (unlikely(msg_size(hdr) > mtu)) {
 		skb_queue_purge(list);
 		return -EMSGSIZE;