diff --git a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
index 72912b5f9a90b..0aca6910efb3f 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
+++ b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
@@ -788,11 +788,12 @@ static int eventfs_iterate(struct file *file, struct dir_context *ctx)
 		name = entry->name;
 
 		mutex_lock(&eventfs_mutex);
-		/* If ei->is_freed, then the event itself may be too */
-		if (!ei->is_freed)
-			r = entry->callback(name, &mode, &cdata, &fops);
-		else
-			r = -1;
+		/* If ei->is_freed then just bail here, nothing more to do */
+		if (ei->is_freed) {
+			mutex_unlock(&eventfs_mutex);
+			goto out;
+		}
+		r = entry->callback(name, &mode, &cdata, &fops);
 		mutex_unlock(&eventfs_mutex);
 		if (r <= 0)
 			continue;