diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index e0aeb32415ff..8075b72d22be 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -3187,11 +3187,9 @@ css_next_descendant_post(struct cgroup_subsys_state *pos,
 
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(!rcu_read_lock_held());
 
-	/* if first iteration, visit the leftmost descendant */
-	if (!pos) {
-		next = css_leftmost_descendant(root);
-		return next != root ? next : NULL;
-	}
+	/* if first iteration, visit leftmost descendant which may be @root */
+	if (!pos)
+		return css_leftmost_descendant(root);
 
 	/* if we visited @root, we're done */
 	if (pos == root)