diff --git a/arch/xtensa/core/fatal.c b/arch/xtensa/core/fatal.c
index 39e84b86f6b..41a7a8d1409 100644
--- a/arch/xtensa/core/fatal.c
+++ b/arch/xtensa/core/fatal.c
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ char *xtensa_exccause(unsigned int cause_code)
 void xtensa_fatal_error(unsigned int reason, const struct arch_esf *esf)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_EXCEPTION_DEBUG
-	if (esf) {
+	if (esf != NULL) {
 		/* Don't want to get elbowed by xtensa_switch
 		 * in between printing registers and dumping them;
 		 * corrupts backtrace