diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
index 7499b0cd8326f701a8fd136d70cd9f07c3fc3162..6768cb2dd740e692aeac2480ce8841be9e24ae2b 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
@@ -1938,8 +1938,10 @@ static void check_for_broken_irqs(struct smi_info *smi_info)
 
 static inline void stop_timer_and_thread(struct smi_info *smi_info)
 {
-	if (smi_info->thread != NULL)
+	if (smi_info->thread != NULL) {
 		kthread_stop(smi_info->thread);
+		smi_info->thread = NULL;
+	}
 
 	smi_info->timer_can_start = false;
 	if (smi_info->timer_running)