diff --git a/net/core/drop_monitor.c b/net/core/drop_monitor.c
index 536e032d95c8..246a258b1fac 100644
--- a/net/core/drop_monitor.c
+++ b/net/core/drop_monitor.c
@@ -1004,8 +1004,10 @@ static void net_dm_hw_monitor_stop(struct netlink_ext_ack *extack)
 {
 	int cpu;
 
-	if (!monitor_hw)
+	if (!monitor_hw) {
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Hardware monitoring already disabled");
+		return;
+	}
 
 	monitor_hw = false;