diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 5d962e71c442..9288b11966a0 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 */