diff --git a/fs/f2fs/segment.c b/fs/f2fs/segment.c
index fbb2a00e9ca4..008b923dfb4e 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/segment.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/segment.c
@@ -2026,8 +2026,10 @@ int f2fs_start_discard_thread(struct f2fs_sb_info *sbi)
 
 	dcc->f2fs_issue_discard = kthread_run(issue_discard_thread, sbi,
 				"f2fs_discard-%u:%u", MAJOR(dev), MINOR(dev));
-	if (IS_ERR(dcc->f2fs_issue_discard))
+	if (IS_ERR(dcc->f2fs_issue_discard)) {
 		err = PTR_ERR(dcc->f2fs_issue_discard);
+		dcc->f2fs_issue_discard = NULL;
+	}
 
 	return err;
 }