diff --git a/kernel/pid.c b/kernel/pid.c
index 14e908f2f0cb..f62a7df2f04c 100644
--- a/kernel/pid.c
+++ b/kernel/pid.c
@@ -514,7 +514,8 @@ pid_t __task_pid_nr_ns(struct task_struct *task, enum pid_type type,
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	if (!ns)
 		ns = task_active_pid_ns(current);
-	nr = pid_nr_ns(rcu_dereference(*task_pid_ptr(task, type)), ns);
+	if (ns)
+		nr = pid_nr_ns(rcu_dereference(*task_pid_ptr(task, type)), ns);
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 
 	return nr;