diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
index d7c8e4ec3d9d..2d9d36dd5fe7 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
@@ -354,6 +354,9 @@ static int start_kthread(struct trace_array *tr)
 	struct task_struct *kthread;
 	int next_cpu;
 
+	if (hwlat_kthread)
+		return 0;
+
 	/* Just pick the first CPU on first iteration */
 	current_mask = &save_cpumask;
 	get_online_cpus();