diff --git a/linux-user/syscall.c b/linux-user/syscall.c
index 1464151826..c99ef9c01e 100644
--- a/linux-user/syscall.c
+++ b/linux-user/syscall.c
@@ -11190,16 +11190,14 @@ static abi_long do_syscall1(CPUArchState *cpu_env, int num, abi_long arg1,
 #if defined(TARGET_NR_clock_adjtime) && defined(CONFIG_CLOCK_ADJTIME)
     case TARGET_NR_clock_adjtime:
         {
-            struct timex htx, *phtx = &htx;
+            struct timex htx;
 
-            if (target_to_host_timex(phtx, arg2) != 0) {
+            if (target_to_host_timex(&htx, arg2) != 0) {
                 return -TARGET_EFAULT;
             }
-            ret = get_errno(clock_adjtime(arg1, phtx));
-            if (!is_error(ret) && phtx) {
-                if (host_to_target_timex(arg2, phtx) != 0) {
-                    return -TARGET_EFAULT;
-                }
+            ret = get_errno(clock_adjtime(arg1, &htx));
+            if (!is_error(ret) && host_to_target_timex(arg2, &htx)) {
+                return -TARGET_EFAULT;
             }
         }
         return ret;