diff --git a/kernel/irq/matrix.c b/kernel/irq/matrix.c
index 30cc217b863184989987f2fa76c76c8bc9a082b4..651a4ad6d711f82d8192d07a6b7616ef9337651f 100644
--- a/kernel/irq/matrix.c
+++ b/kernel/irq/matrix.c
@@ -380,6 +380,13 @@ int irq_matrix_alloc(struct irq_matrix *m, const struct cpumask *msk,
 	unsigned int cpu, bit;
 	struct cpumap *cm;
 
+	/*
+	 * Not required in theory, but matrix_find_best_cpu() uses
+	 * for_each_cpu() which ignores the cpumask on UP .
+	 */
+	if (cpumask_empty(msk))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	cpu = matrix_find_best_cpu(m, msk);
 	if (cpu == UINT_MAX)
 		return -ENOSPC;