diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index d7b0316e3465..211a5ce64e3f 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -8520,7 +8520,12 @@ err_context:
 	perf_unpin_context(ctx);
 	put_ctx(ctx);
 err_alloc:
-	free_event(event);
+	/*
+	 * If event_file is set, the fput() above will have called ->release()
+	 * and that will take care of freeing the event.
+	 */
+	if (!event_file)
+		free_event(event);
 err_cpus:
 	put_online_cpus();
 err_task: