diff --git a/sys/geom/geom.h b/sys/geom/geom.h
index b261693..1cd5ba0 100644
--- a/sys/geom/geom.h
+++ b/sys/geom/geom.h
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ struct g_kerneldump {
 MALLOC_DECLARE(M_GEOM);
 
 static __inline void *
-g_malloc(int size, int flags)
+g_malloc(size_t size, int flags)
 {
 	void *p;
 
diff --git a/sys/geom/geom_ctl.c b/sys/geom/geom_ctl.c
index 71a8c26..ff3f0f6 100644
--- a/sys/geom/geom_ctl.c
+++ b/sys/geom/geom_ctl.c
@@ -122,7 +122,10 @@ geom_alloc_copyin(struct gctl_req *req, void *uaddr, size_t len)
 {
 	void *ptr;
 
-	ptr = g_malloc(len, M_WAITOK);
+	ptr = g_malloc(len, M_NOWAIT);
+	if (ptr==NULL)
+		return (NULL);
+
 	req->nerror = copyin(uaddr, ptr, len);
 	if (!req->nerror)
 		return (ptr);