diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-emc.c b/drivers/md/dm-emc.c
index 700658664594..c7067674dcb7 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-emc.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-emc.c
@@ -223,8 +223,10 @@ static struct emc_handler *alloc_emc_handler(void)
 {
 	struct emc_handler *h = kmalloc(sizeof(*h), GFP_KERNEL);
 
-	if (h)
+	if (h) {
+		memset(h, 0, sizeof(*h));
 		spin_lock_init(&h->lock);
+	}
 
 	return h;
 }
@@ -259,8 +261,6 @@ static int emc_create(struct hw_handler *hwh, unsigned argc, char **argv)
 	if (!h)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	memset(h, 0, sizeof(*h));
-
 	hwh->context = h;
 
 	if ((h->short_trespass = short_trespass))