diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index 940aced4ed00..3a73f995a81e 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -3985,7 +3985,6 @@ static int pidlist_array_load(struct cgroup *cgrp, enum cgroup_filetype type,
 
 	l = cgroup_pidlist_find_create(cgrp, type);
 	if (!l) {
-		mutex_unlock(&cgrp->pidlist_mutex);
 		pidlist_free(array);
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}