diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
index 2d9d36dd5fe7..688e48be7bb5 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ static int start_kthread(struct trace_array *tr)
 	struct task_struct *kthread;
 	int next_cpu;
 
-	if (hwlat_kthread)
+	if (WARN_ON(hwlat_kthread))
 		return 0;
 
 	/* Just pick the first CPU on first iteration */