diff --git a/drivers/base/bus.c b/drivers/base/bus.c
index ae57df879bca..870c7a070bbc 100644
--- a/drivers/base/bus.c
+++ b/drivers/base/bus.c
@@ -503,10 +503,10 @@ static const struct attribute_group driver_override_dev_group = {
  */
 int bus_add_device(struct device *dev)
 {
-	struct subsys_private *sp = bus_to_subsys(dev->bus);
+	struct subsys_private *sp;
 	int error;
 
-	if (!sp) {
+	if (!dev->bus) {
 		/*
 		 * This is a normal operation for many devices that do not
 		 * have a bus assigned to them, just say that all went
@@ -515,6 +515,13 @@ int bus_add_device(struct device *dev)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	sp = bus_to_subsys(dev->bus);
+	if (!sp) {
+		pr_err("%s: cannot add device '%s' to unregistered bus '%s'\n",
+		       __func__, dev_name(dev), dev->bus->name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Reference in sp is now incremented and will be dropped when
 	 * the device is removed from the bus