diff --git a/dsp/q6core.c b/dsp/q6core.c
index a58a03b..9d9fc97 100644
--- a/dsp/q6core.c
+++ b/dsp/q6core.c
@@ -475,6 +475,8 @@
 	case AVCS_CMD_RSP_LOAD_MODULES:
 		pr_debug("%s: Received AVCS_CMD_RSP_LOAD_MODULES\n",
 			 __func__);
+		if (!rsp_payload)
+			return -EINVAL;
 		if (data->payload_size != ((sizeof(struct avcs_load_unload_modules_sec_payload)
 			* rsp_payload->num_modules) + sizeof(uint32_t))) {
 			pr_err("%s: payload size not equal to expected size %d\n",
@@ -1061,6 +1063,7 @@
 done:
 	kfree(mod);
 	kfree(rsp_payload);
+	rsp_payload = NULL;
 	mutex_unlock(&(q6core_lcl.cmd_lock));
 	return ret;
 }