diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_fp.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_fp.c
index 96e581ced50e..ab2cc1c67f70 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_fp.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/bnxt_re/qplib_fp.c
@@ -2043,6 +2043,12 @@ int bnxt_qplib_create_cq(struct bnxt_qplib_res *res, struct bnxt_qplib_cq *cq)
 	u32 pg_sz_lvl;
 	int rc;
 
+	if (!cq->dpi) {
+		dev_err(&rcfw->pdev->dev,
+			"FP: CREATE_CQ failed due to NULL DPI\n");
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	hwq_attr.res = res;
 	hwq_attr.depth = cq->max_wqe;
 	hwq_attr.stride = sizeof(struct cq_base);
@@ -2054,11 +2060,6 @@ int bnxt_qplib_create_cq(struct bnxt_qplib_res *res, struct bnxt_qplib_cq *cq)
 
 	RCFW_CMD_PREP(req, CREATE_CQ, cmd_flags);
 
-	if (!cq->dpi) {
-		dev_err(&rcfw->pdev->dev,
-			"FP: CREATE_CQ failed due to NULL DPI\n");
-		return -EINVAL;
-	}
 	req.dpi = cpu_to_le32(cq->dpi->dpi);
 	req.cq_handle = cpu_to_le64(cq->cq_handle);
 	req.cq_size = cpu_to_le32(cq->hwq.max_elements);