diff --git a/kernel/auditsc.c b/kernel/auditsc.c
index 580a5389fd99..496c3dd37276 100644
--- a/kernel/auditsc.c
+++ b/kernel/auditsc.c
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@ static int audit_filter_rules(struct task_struct *tsk,
 		if (!result)
 			return 0;
 	}
-	if (rule->filterkey)
+	if (rule->filterkey && ctx)
 		ctx->filterkey = kstrdup(rule->filterkey, GFP_ATOMIC);
 	switch (rule->action) {
 	case AUDIT_NEVER:    *state = AUDIT_DISABLED;	    break;