diff --git a/kernel/pid.c b/kernel/pid.c
index 0f4ecb57214cb840d9d1d866669865316fd4a380..19645b25b77c2b96efab4b48a0d2ebda51cc4ce9 100644
--- a/kernel/pid.c
+++ b/kernel/pid.c
@@ -247,6 +247,8 @@ struct pid *alloc_pid(struct pid_namespace *ns, pid_t *set_tid,
 		tmp = tmp->parent;
 	}
 
+	retval = -ENOMEM;
+
 	if (unlikely(is_child_reaper(pid))) {
 		if (pid_ns_prepare_proc(ns))
 			goto out_free;