diff --git a/drivers/media/pci/saa7164/saa7164-core.c b/drivers/media/pci/saa7164/saa7164-core.c
index 57ef5456f1e87e9cc042ec8dc05cdb07192bc15d..1bf06970ca3e8e180cb6a2f20d732c983af820b2 100644
--- a/drivers/media/pci/saa7164/saa7164-core.c
+++ b/drivers/media/pci/saa7164/saa7164-core.c
@@ -1354,9 +1354,11 @@ static int saa7164_initdev(struct pci_dev *pci_dev,
 		if (fw_debug) {
 			dev->kthread = kthread_run(saa7164_thread_function, dev,
 				"saa7164 debug");
-			if (!dev->kthread)
+			if (IS_ERR(dev->kthread)) {
+				dev->kthread = NULL;
 				printk(KERN_ERR "%s() Failed to create "
 					"debug kernel thread\n", __func__);
+			}
 		}
 
 	} /* != BOARD_UNKNOWN */