diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext.c
index 1efd5d82b08b..9354da79e162 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext.c
@@ -6973,10 +6973,10 @@ static void scx_root_enable_workfn(struct kthread_work *work)
 			if (scx_get_task_state(p) != SCX_TASK_DEAD)
 				scx_set_task_state(p, SCX_TASK_NONE);
 			task_rq_unlock(rq, p, &rf);
-			put_task_struct(p);
 			scx_task_iter_stop(&sti);
 			scx_error(sch, "ops.init_task() failed (%d) for %s[%d]",
 				  ret, p->comm, p->pid);
+			put_task_struct(p);
 			goto err_disable_unlock_all;
 		}