diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 3da978eec791..8cdd3e72ba55 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -1315,9 +1315,8 @@ struct task_struct * __devinit fork_idle(int cpu)
 	struct pt_regs regs;
 
 	task = copy_process(CLONE_VM, 0, idle_regs(&regs), 0, NULL, NULL, 0);
-	if (!task)
-		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
-	init_idle(task, cpu);
+	if (!IS_ERR(task))
+		init_idle(task, cpu);
 
 	return task;
 }