diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/stm/core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/stm/core.c
index c38645106783..bdc1bf7bf22d 100644
--- a/drivers/hwtracing/stm/core.c
+++ b/drivers/hwtracing/stm/core.c
@@ -252,6 +252,9 @@ static int find_free_channels(unsigned long *bitmap, unsigned int start,
 			;
 		if (i == width)
 			return pos;
+
+		/* step over [pos..pos+i) to continue search */
+		pos += i;
 	}
 
 	return -1;