firmware_timeout_store(struct class *class, const char *buf, size_t count)
 {
        loading_timeout = simple_strtol(buf, NULL, 10);
+       if (loading_timeout < 0)
+               loading_timeout = 0;
        return count;
 }
 
        switch (loading) {
        case 1:
                down(&fw_lock);
+               if (!fw_priv->fw) {
+                       up(&fw_lock);
+                       break;
+               }
                vfree(fw_priv->fw->data);
                fw_priv->fw->data = NULL;
                fw_priv->fw->size = 0;
 
        down(&fw_lock);
        fw = fw_priv->fw;
-       if (test_bit(FW_STATUS_DONE, &fw_priv->status)) {
+       if (!fw || test_bit(FW_STATUS_DONE, &fw_priv->status)) {
                ret_count = -ENODEV;
                goto out;
        }
 
        if (!capable(CAP_SYS_RAWIO))
                return -EPERM;
+
        down(&fw_lock);
        fw = fw_priv->fw;
-       if (test_bit(FW_STATUS_DONE, &fw_priv->status)) {
+       if (!fw || test_bit(FW_STATUS_DONE, &fw_priv->status)) {
                retval = -ENODEV;
                goto out;
        }
 
        fw_priv = class_get_devdata(class_dev);
 
-       if (loading_timeout) {
+       if (loading_timeout > 0) {
                fw_priv->timeout.expires = jiffies + loading_timeout * HZ;
                add_timer(&fw_priv->timeout);
        }