diff --git a/providers/implementations/keymgmt/ec_kmgmt.c b/providers/implementations/keymgmt/ec_kmgmt.c
index ed1b412225..58283ca8f0 100644
--- a/providers/implementations/keymgmt/ec_kmgmt.c
+++ b/providers/implementations/keymgmt/ec_kmgmt.c
@@ -900,13 +900,13 @@ int ec_validate(const void *keydata, int selection, int checktype)
     if (!ossl_prov_is_running())
         return 0;
 
+    if ((selection & EC_POSSIBLE_SELECTIONS) == 0)
+        return 1; /* nothing to validate */
+
     ctx = BN_CTX_new_ex(ossl_ec_key_get_libctx(eck));
     if  (ctx == NULL)
         return 0;
 
-    if ((selection & EC_POSSIBLE_SELECTIONS) == 0)
-        return 1; /* nothing to validate */
-
     if ((selection & OSSL_KEYMGMT_SELECT_DOMAIN_PARAMETERS) != 0) {
         int flags = EC_KEY_get_flags(eck);