diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index 8c11388e92a5..52bedc5a5aaa 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -8542,6 +8542,7 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE5(perf_event_open,
 					f_flags);
 	if (IS_ERR(event_file)) {
 		err = PTR_ERR(event_file);
+		event_file = NULL;
 		goto err_context;
 	}