diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext.c
index 2f16dc2b814b..6575b52f4b9d 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext.c
@@ -8812,9 +8812,6 @@ static void scx_kick_cpu(struct scx_sched *sch, s32 cpu, u64 flags)
 	struct rq *this_rq;
 	unsigned long irq_flags;
 
-	if (!scx_cpu_valid(sch, cpu, NULL))
-		return;
-
 	local_irq_save(irq_flags);
 
 	this_rq = this_rq();
@@ -8877,7 +8874,7 @@ __bpf_kfunc void scx_bpf_kick_cpu(s32 cpu, u64 flags, const struct bpf_prog_aux
 
 	guard(rcu)();
 	sch = scx_prog_sched(aux);
-	if (likely(sch))
+	if (likely(sch) && scx_cpu_valid(sch, cpu, NULL))
 		scx_kick_cpu(sch, cpu, flags);
 }