diff --git a/drivers/accel/amdxdna/amdxdna_ctx.c b/drivers/accel/amdxdna/amdxdna_ctx.c
index 8f8df9d04ec5..a5c8c2c4de6d 100644
--- a/drivers/accel/amdxdna/amdxdna_ctx.c
+++ b/drivers/accel/amdxdna/amdxdna_ctx.c
@@ -603,6 +603,16 @@ int amdxdna_cmd_submit(struct amdxdna_client *client,
 			ret = -EINVAL;
 			goto free_job;
 		}
+	} else if (!drv_cmd) {
+		/*
+		 * Only internal driver commands (drv_cmd != NULL) may omit a
+		 * command BO. A user command submission with the invalid handle
+		 * would leave job->cmd_bo NULL and later fault when the scheduler
+		 * dereferences it in amdxdna_cmd_set_state().
+		 */
+		XDNA_DBG(xdna, "Command BO handle required for user submission");
+		ret = -EINVAL;
+		goto free_job;
 	}
 
 	ret = amdxdna_arg_bos_lookup(client, job, arg_bo_hdls, arg_bo_cnt);