diff --git a/fs/eventpoll.c b/fs/eventpoll.c
index 739b0985b398..c0b3c70ee87a 100644
--- a/fs/eventpoll.c
+++ b/fs/eventpoll.c
@@ -1663,8 +1663,10 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE4(epoll_ctl, int, epfd, int, op, int, fd,
 	if (op == EPOLL_CTL_ADD) {
 		if (is_file_epoll(tfile)) {
 			error = -ELOOP;
-			if (ep_loop_check(ep, tfile) != 0)
+			if (ep_loop_check(ep, tfile) != 0) {
+				clear_tfile_check_list();
 				goto error_tgt_fput;
+			}
 		} else
 			list_add(&tfile->f_tfile_llink, &tfile_check_list);
 	}