diff --git a/kernel/hung_task.c b/kernel/hung_task.c
index 06bb1417b063fe..06db12434d727c 100644
--- a/kernel/hung_task.c
+++ b/kernel/hung_task.c
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ unsigned int __read_mostly sysctl_hung_task_panic =
 
 static int __init hung_task_panic_setup(char *str)
 {
-	sysctl_hung_task_panic = simple_strtoul(str, NULL, 0);
+	int rc = kstrtouint(str, 0, &sysctl_hung_task_panic);
 
+	if (rc)
+		return rc;
 	return 1;
 }
 __setup("hung_task_panic=", hung_task_panic_setup);