diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 61667909ce837bcaaa378cbdb760938cdd41b46b..fe83343da24ba2c6c36761983ad974e72fcbbf52 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -2036,6 +2036,7 @@ static __latent_entropy struct task_struct *copy_process(
 					      O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
 		if (IS_ERR(pidfile)) {
 			put_unused_fd(pidfd);
+			retval = PTR_ERR(pidfile);
 			goto bad_fork_free_pid;
 		}
 		get_pid(pid);	/* held by pidfile now */