diff --git a/arch/ia64/kernel/perfmon.c b/arch/ia64/kernel/perfmon.c
index c7ccd6ee1ddfe57d7668794098e716bc77192189..84a7e52f56f6618358cf734da9176adf71271dcf 100644
--- a/arch/ia64/kernel/perfmon.c
+++ b/arch/ia64/kernel/perfmon.c
@@ -4936,13 +4936,15 @@ sys_perfmonctl (int fd, int cmd, void __user *arg, int count)
 	if (likely(ctx)) {
 		DPRINT(("context unlocked\n"));
 		UNPROTECT_CTX(ctx, flags);
-		fput(file);
 	}
 
 	/* copy argument back to user, if needed */
 	if (call_made && PFM_CMD_RW_ARG(cmd) && copy_to_user(arg, args_k, base_sz*count)) ret = -EFAULT;
 
 error_args:
+	if (file)
+		fput(file);
+
 	kfree(args_k);
 
 	DPRINT(("cmd=%s ret=%ld\n", PFM_CMD_NAME(cmd), ret));