diff --git a/fs/f2fs/gc.c b/fs/f2fs/gc.c
index b1e498503e59..16fdec355201 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/gc.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/gc.c
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ int start_gc_thread(struct f2fs_sb_info *sbi)
 			"f2fs_gc-%u:%u", MAJOR(dev), MINOR(dev));
 	if (IS_ERR(gc_th->f2fs_gc_task)) {
 		kfree(gc_th);
+		sbi->gc_thread = NULL;
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 	return 0;