diff --git a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
index b406bb3430f3..185bb404aef0 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
+++ b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
@@ -806,7 +806,7 @@ struct eventfs_inode *eventfs_create_dir(const char *name, struct eventfs_inode
 	/* Was the parent freed? */
 	if (list_empty(&ei->list)) {
 		cleanup_ei(ei);
-		ei = NULL;
+		ei = ERR_PTR(-EBUSY);
 	}
 	return ei;
 }