diff --git a/lib/alloc_tag.c b/lib/alloc_tag.c
index 81e5f9a70f22..e76c40bf29d0 100644
--- a/lib/alloc_tag.c
+++ b/lib/alloc_tag.c
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ size_t alloc_tag_top_users(struct codetag_bytes *tags, size_t count, bool can_sl
 	struct codetag_bytes n;
 	unsigned int i, nr = 0;
 
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(alloc_tag_cttype))
+		return 0;
+
 	if (can_sleep)
 		codetag_lock_module_list(alloc_tag_cttype, true);
 	else if (!codetag_trylock_module_list(alloc_tag_cttype))