diff --git a/drivers/net/wan/cosa.c b/drivers/net/wan/cosa.c
index 23d2954d97475a..1e5672019922fc 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wan/cosa.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wan/cosa.c
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ static int __init cosa_init(void)
 		}
 	} else {
 		cosa_major = register_chrdev(0, "cosa", &cosa_fops);
-		if (!cosa_major) {
+		if (cosa_major < 0) {
 			pr_warn("unable to register chardev\n");
 			err = -EIO;
 			goto out;