diff --git a/security/apparmor/apparmorfs.c b/security/apparmor/apparmorfs.c
index a59c4b83620f..94b8c7979231 100644
--- a/security/apparmor/apparmorfs.c
+++ b/security/apparmor/apparmorfs.c
@@ -1975,7 +1975,7 @@ static struct dentry *ns_mkdir_op(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct inode *dir,
 	mutex_unlock(&parent->lock);
 	aa_put_ns(parent);
 
-	return ERR_PTR(error);
+	return error ? ERR_PTR(error) : NULL;
 }
 
 static int ns_rmdir_op(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)