diff --git a/security/apparmor/domain.c b/security/apparmor/domain.c
index 08c88de0ffda..11975ec8d566 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/domain.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/domain.c
@@ -1444,7 +1444,10 @@ check:
 			new = aa_label_merge(label, target, GFP_KERNEL);
 		if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(new)) {
 			info = "failed to build target label";
-			error = PTR_ERR(new);
+			if (!new)
+				error = -ENOMEM;
+			else
+				error = PTR_ERR(new);
 			new = NULL;
 			perms.allow = 0;
 			goto audit;