diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index 38cc72d203c0..c3bfd02c03b5 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -12374,14 +12374,15 @@ static int sched_balance_newidle(struct rq *this_rq, struct rq_flags *rf)
 
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	sd = rcu_dereference_check_sched_domain(this_rq->sd);
+	if (!sd) {
+		rcu_read_unlock();
+		goto out;
+	}
 
 	if (!READ_ONCE(this_rq->rd->overload) ||
-	    (sd && this_rq->avg_idle < sd->max_newidle_lb_cost)) {
-
-		if (sd)
-			update_next_balance(sd, &next_balance);
+	    this_rq->avg_idle < sd->max_newidle_lb_cost) {
+		update_next_balance(sd, &next_balance);
 		rcu_read_unlock();
-
 		goto out;
 	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();