diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 889cfd5..8ce3a1b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 Changes since U-Boot 1.1.4:
 ======================================================================
 
+* au1x00_eth.c: check malloc return value and abort if it failed
+  Patch by Andrew Dyer, 26 Jul 2005
+
 * Change the sequence of events in soft_i2c.c:send_ack() to keep from
   incorrectly generating start/stop conditions on the bus.
   Patch by Andrew Dyer, 26 Jul 2005
diff --git a/cpu/mips/au1x00_eth.c b/cpu/mips/au1x00_eth.c
index 9ce9b35..078e832 100644
--- a/cpu/mips/au1x00_eth.c
+++ b/cpu/mips/au1x00_eth.c
@@ -224,10 +224,14 @@
 int au1x00_enet_initialize(bd_t *bis){
 	struct eth_device* dev;
 
-	dev = (struct eth_device*) malloc(sizeof *dev);
+	if ((dev = (struct eth_device*)malloc(sizeof *dev)) == NULL) {
+		puts ("malloc failed\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	memset(dev, 0, sizeof *dev);
 
-	sprintf(dev->name, "Au1X00 ETHERNET");
+	sprintf(dev->name, "Au1X00 ethernet");
 	dev->iobase = 0;
 	dev->priv   = 0;
 	dev->init   = au1x00_init;