diff --git a/lib/nlattr.c b/lib/nlattr.c
index cace9b307781..0d84f79cb4b5 100644
--- a/lib/nlattr.c
+++ b/lib/nlattr.c
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ int nla_strcmp(const struct nlattr *nla, const char *str)
 	int attrlen = nla_len(nla);
 	int d;
 
-	if (attrlen > 0 && buf[attrlen - 1] == '\0')
+	while (attrlen > 0 && buf[attrlen - 1] == '\0')
 		attrlen--;
 
 	d = attrlen - len;