diff --git a/security/integrity/ima/ima_modsig.c b/security/integrity/ima/ima_modsig.c
index c412e31d1714..d106885cc495 100644
--- a/security/integrity/ima/ima_modsig.c
+++ b/security/integrity/ima/ima_modsig.c
@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@ int ima_read_modsig(enum ima_hooks func, const void *buf, loff_t buf_len,
 
 	hdr->pkcs7_msg = pkcs7_parse_message(buf + buf_len, sig_len);
 	if (IS_ERR(hdr->pkcs7_msg)) {
+		rc = PTR_ERR(hdr->pkcs7_msg);
 		kfree(hdr);
-		return PTR_ERR(hdr->pkcs7_msg);
+		return rc;
 	}
 
 	memcpy(hdr->raw_pkcs7, buf + buf_len, sig_len);