diff --git a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
index 86a4fe75f453735936e3b218f885dcd887216659..c9a11d15d228479158d5fe429d52ef7e0decb457 100755
--- a/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
+++ b/scripts/link-vmlinux.sh
@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@ sortextable()
 }
 
 # Delete output files in case of error
-trap cleanup SIGHUP SIGINT SIGQUIT SIGTERM ERR
 cleanup()
 {
 	rm -f .old_version
@@ -124,6 +123,20 @@ cleanup()
 	rm -f vmlinux.o
 }
 
+on_exit()
+{
+	if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+		cleanup
+	fi
+}
+trap on_exit EXIT
+
+on_signals()
+{
+	exit 1
+}
+trap on_signals HUP INT QUIT TERM
+
 #
 #
 # Use "make V=1" to debug this script
@@ -231,7 +244,6 @@ if [ -n "${CONFIG_KALLSYMS}" ]; then
 	if ! cmp -s System.map .tmp_System.map; then
 		echo >&2 Inconsistent kallsyms data
 		echo >&2 Try "make KALLSYMS_EXTRA_PASS=1" as a workaround
-		cleanup
 		exit 1
 	fi
 fi