diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/init.c b/arch/x86/mm/init.c
index 71d29dd7ad76..6cbb5974e4f9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/init.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/init.c
@@ -644,8 +644,13 @@ static void __init memory_map_top_down(unsigned long map_start,
 	 */
 	addr = memblock_phys_alloc_range(PMD_SIZE, PMD_SIZE, map_start,
 					 map_end);
-	memblock_phys_free(addr, PMD_SIZE);
-	real_end = addr + PMD_SIZE;
+	if (!addr) {
+		pr_warn("Failed to release memory for alloc_low_pages()");
+		real_end = max(map_start, ALIGN_DOWN(map_end, PMD_SIZE));
+	} else {
+		memblock_phys_free(addr, PMD_SIZE);
+		real_end = addr + PMD_SIZE;
+	}
 
 	/* step_size need to be small so pgt_buf from BRK could cover it */
 	step_size = PMD_SIZE;