diff --git a/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c b/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
index 6473a4a81d58b..a406b3c0d170a 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/at_xdmac.c
@@ -1848,6 +1848,11 @@ static int at_xdmac_alloc_chan_resources(struct dma_chan *chan)
 	for (i = 0; i < init_nr_desc_per_channel; i++) {
 		desc = at_xdmac_alloc_desc(chan, GFP_ATOMIC);
 		if (!desc) {
+			if (i == 0) {
+				dev_warn(chan2dev(chan),
+					 "can't allocate any descriptors\n");
+				return -EIO;
+			}
 			dev_warn(chan2dev(chan),
 				"only %d descriptors have been allocated\n", i);
 			break;