* tunables
 **********************************/
 
+#define ZSWAP_PARAM_UNSET ""
+
 /* Enable/disable zswap (disabled by default) */
 static bool zswap_enabled;
 static int zswap_enabled_param_set(const char *,
        gfp_t gfp = __GFP_NORETRY | __GFP_NOWARN | __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM;
        int ret;
 
+       if (!zswap_has_pool) {
+               /* if either are unset, pool initialization failed, and we
+                * need both params to be set correctly before trying to
+                * create a pool.
+                */
+               if (!strcmp(type, ZSWAP_PARAM_UNSET))
+                       return NULL;
+               if (!strcmp(compressor, ZSWAP_PARAM_UNSET))
+                       return NULL;
+       }
+
        pool = kzalloc(sizeof(*pool), GFP_KERNEL);
        if (!pool) {
                pr_err("pool alloc failed\n");
 
 static __init struct zswap_pool *__zswap_pool_create_fallback(void)
 {
-       if (!crypto_has_comp(zswap_compressor, 0, 0)) {
-               if (!strcmp(zswap_compressor, ZSWAP_COMPRESSOR_DEFAULT)) {
-                       pr_err("default compressor %s not available\n",
-                              zswap_compressor);
-                       return NULL;
-               }
+       bool has_comp, has_zpool;
+
+       has_comp = crypto_has_comp(zswap_compressor, 0, 0);
+       if (!has_comp && strcmp(zswap_compressor, ZSWAP_COMPRESSOR_DEFAULT)) {
                pr_err("compressor %s not available, using default %s\n",
                       zswap_compressor, ZSWAP_COMPRESSOR_DEFAULT);
                param_free_charp(&zswap_compressor);
                zswap_compressor = ZSWAP_COMPRESSOR_DEFAULT;
+               has_comp = crypto_has_comp(zswap_compressor, 0, 0);
        }
-       if (!zpool_has_pool(zswap_zpool_type)) {
-               if (!strcmp(zswap_zpool_type, ZSWAP_ZPOOL_DEFAULT)) {
-                       pr_err("default zpool %s not available\n",
-                              zswap_zpool_type);
-                       return NULL;
-               }
+       if (!has_comp) {
+               pr_err("default compressor %s not available\n",
+                      zswap_compressor);
+               param_free_charp(&zswap_compressor);
+               zswap_compressor = ZSWAP_PARAM_UNSET;
+       }
+
+       has_zpool = zpool_has_pool(zswap_zpool_type);
+       if (!has_zpool && strcmp(zswap_zpool_type, ZSWAP_ZPOOL_DEFAULT)) {
                pr_err("zpool %s not available, using default %s\n",
                       zswap_zpool_type, ZSWAP_ZPOOL_DEFAULT);
                param_free_charp(&zswap_zpool_type);
                zswap_zpool_type = ZSWAP_ZPOOL_DEFAULT;
+               has_zpool = zpool_has_pool(zswap_zpool_type);
        }
+       if (!has_zpool) {
+               pr_err("default zpool %s not available\n",
+                      zswap_zpool_type);
+               param_free_charp(&zswap_zpool_type);
+               zswap_zpool_type = ZSWAP_PARAM_UNSET;
+       }
+
+       if (!has_comp || !has_zpool)
+               return NULL;
 
        return zswap_pool_create(zswap_zpool_type, zswap_compressor);
 }