diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
index 1adeebaa81b0..1ba40bb2b966 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
@@ -1845,6 +1845,9 @@ int __i2c_transfer(struct i2c_adapter *adap, struct i2c_msg *msgs, int num)
 	unsigned long orig_jiffies;
 	int ret, try;
 
+	if (WARN_ON(!msgs || num < 1))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	if (adap->quirks && i2c_check_for_quirks(adap, msgs, num))
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;