diff --git a/fs/coredump.c b/fs/coredump.c
index b1ea7dfbd1494bd8d990ae03ee1bc21277dbd636..d25bad2ed06163cb075e8fb328e735d80d088ab1 100644
--- a/fs/coredump.c
+++ b/fs/coredump.c
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ static int format_corename(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *cprm,
 			return -ENOMEM;
 		(*argv)[(*argc)++] = 0;
 		++pat_ptr;
+		if (!(*pat_ptr))
+			return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
 	/* Repeat as long as we have more pattern to process and more output