diff --git a/sys/dev/ata/ata-lowlevel.c b/sys/dev/ata/ata-lowlevel.c
index e5589e4760f7..f747a36c01fc 100644
--- a/sys/dev/ata/ata-lowlevel.c
+++ b/sys/dev/ata/ata-lowlevel.c
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ ata_generic_transaction(struct ata_request *request)
     }
 
     /* request finish here */
-    if (request->flags & ATA_R_DMA && ch->dma->flags & ATA_DMA_LOADED)
+    if (ch->dma && ch->dma->flags & ATA_DMA_LOADED)
 	ch->dma->unload(ch);
     return ATA_OP_FINISHED;
 }