diff --git a/drivers/net/netconsole.c b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
index 665341e..387a133 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netconsole.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netconsole.c
@@ -585,8 +585,9 @@
  * Group operations and type for netconsole_subsys.
  */
 
-static struct config_item *make_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,
-						  const char *name)
+static int make_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,
+				  const char *name,
+				  struct config_item **new_item)
 {
 	unsigned long flags;
 	struct netconsole_target *nt;
@@ -598,7 +599,7 @@
 	nt = kzalloc(sizeof(*nt), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!nt) {
 		printk(KERN_ERR "netconsole: failed to allocate memory\n");
-		return NULL;
+		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
 	nt->np.name = "netconsole";
@@ -615,7 +616,8 @@
 	list_add(&nt->list, &target_list);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&target_list_lock, flags);
 
-	return &nt->item;
+	*new_item = &nt->item;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void drop_netconsole_target(struct config_group *group,