diff --git a/kernel/stop_machine.c b/kernel/stop_machine.c
index 867bc20e1ef14..1a66a95699151 100644
--- a/kernel/stop_machine.c
+++ b/kernel/stop_machine.c
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ static void cpu_stopper_thread(unsigned int cpu)
 		preempt_disable();
 
 		ret = fn(arg);
-		if (ret)
+		if (ret && done)
 			done->ret = ret;
 
 		/* restore preemption and check it's still balanced */