diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index 58c67b3060b5..e378cb2fac5e 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -3545,7 +3545,7 @@ static void css_release(struct percpu_ref *ref)
 	struct cgroup_subsys_state *css =
 		container_of(ref, struct cgroup_subsys_state, refcnt);
 
-	rcu_assign_pointer(css->cgroup->subsys[css->ss->id], NULL);
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(css->cgroup->subsys[css->ss->id], NULL);
 	call_rcu(&css->rcu_head, css_free_rcu_fn);
 }