diff --git a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
index 0b90869fd805..43e237864a42 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
+++ b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
@@ -546,6 +546,8 @@ static struct dentry *eventfs_root_lookup(struct inode *dir,
 		if (strcmp(ei_child->name, name) != 0)
 			continue;
 		ret = simple_lookup(dir, dentry, flags);
+		if (IS_ERR(ret))
+			goto out;
 		create_dir_dentry(ei, ei_child, ei_dentry, true);
 		created = true;
 		break;
@@ -568,6 +570,8 @@ static struct dentry *eventfs_root_lookup(struct inode *dir,
 			if (r <= 0)
 				continue;
 			ret = simple_lookup(dir, dentry, flags);
+			if (IS_ERR(ret))
+				goto out;
 			create_file_dentry(ei, i, ei_dentry, name, mode, cdata,
 					   fops, true);
 			break;