diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
index f0ed6f0e7d7..4c4c07dfce3 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ func (lb *LoadBalancer) CreateTCPLoadBalancer(name, region string, externalIP ne
 		PoolID:       pool.ID,
 		Persistence:  persistence,
 	}
-	if !externalIP.IsUnspecified() {
+	if externalIP != nil {
 		createOpts.Address = externalIP.String()
 	}