diff --git a/security/apparmor/lib.c b/security/apparmor/lib.c
index 974affe50531..76491e7f4177 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/lib.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/lib.c
@@ -90,10 +90,12 @@ const char *aa_splitn_fqname(const char *fqname, size_t n, const char **ns_name,
 	const char *end = fqname + n;
 	const char *name = skipn_spaces(fqname, n);
 
-	if (!name)
-		return NULL;
 	*ns_name = NULL;
 	*ns_len = 0;
+
+	if (!name)
+		return NULL;
+
 	if (name[0] == ':') {
 		char *split = strnchr(&name[1], end - &name[1], ':');
 		*ns_name = skipn_spaces(&name[1], end - &name[1]);