diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945-base.c b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945-base.c
index b9eac5551d82..81dfcb882857 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945-base.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945-base.c
@@ -6256,6 +6256,11 @@ static void iwl3945_bg_request_scan(struct work_struct *data)
 					      n_probes,
 			(void *)&scan->data[le16_to_cpu(scan->tx_cmd.len)]);
 
+	if (scan->channel_count == 0) {
+		IWL_DEBUG_SCAN("channel count %d\n", scan->channel_count);
+		goto done;
+	}
+
 	cmd.len += le16_to_cpu(scan->tx_cmd.len) +
 	    scan->channel_count * sizeof(struct iwl3945_scan_channel);
 	cmd.data = scan;