If virtqueue_prepare() fails, virtqueue_kick() falls back to returning true: /** * virtqueue_kick - update after add_buf * @vq: the struct virtqueue * * After one or more virtqueue_add_* calls, invoke this to kick * the other side. * * Caller must ensure we don't call this with other virtqueue * operations at the same time (except where noted). * * Returns false if kick failed, otherwise true. */ bool virtqueue_kick(struct virtqueue *vq) { if (virtqueue_kick_prepare(vq)) return virtqueue_notify(vq); return true; }