diff --git a/lib/scatterlist.c b/lib/scatterlist.c
index 3675452b23c..7874b01e816 100644
--- a/lib/scatterlist.c
+++ b/lib/scatterlist.c
@@ -248,7 +248,8 @@ int __sg_alloc_table(struct sg_table *table, unsigned int nents,
 	unsigned int left;
 
 #ifndef ARCH_HAS_SG_CHAIN
-	BUG_ON(nents > max_ents);
+	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(nents > max_ents))
+		return -EINVAL;
 #endif
 
 	memset(table, 0, sizeof(*table));