diff --git a/fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c b/fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c
index 7fea86edc717..129517a0c5c7 100644
--- a/fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c
+++ b/fs/smb/server/smb2pdu.c
@@ -1599,8 +1599,10 @@ static int krb5_authenticate(struct ksmbd_work *work,
 	if (prev_sess_id && prev_sess_id != sess->id)
 		destroy_previous_session(conn, sess->user, prev_sess_id);
 
-	if (sess->state == SMB2_SESSION_VALID)
+	if (sess->state == SMB2_SESSION_VALID) {
 		ksmbd_free_user(sess->user);
+		sess->user = NULL;
+	}
 
 	retval = ksmbd_krb5_authenticate(sess, in_blob, in_len,
 					 out_blob, &out_len);