diff --git a/drivers/media/i2c/video-i2c.c b/drivers/media/i2c/video-i2c.c
index 56b99eea54a1..7f971645c0b5 100644
--- a/drivers/media/i2c/video-i2c.c
+++ b/drivers/media/i2c/video-i2c.c
@@ -523,8 +523,12 @@ static int start_streaming(struct vb2_queue *vq, unsigned int count)
 	data->kthread_vid_cap = kthread_run(video_i2c_thread_vid_cap, data,
 					    "%s-vid-cap", data->v4l2_dev.name);
 	ret = PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(data->kthread_vid_cap);
-	if (!ret)
-		return 0;
+	if (ret) {
+		data->kthread_vid_cap = NULL;
+		goto error_rpm_put;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
 
 error_rpm_put:
 	pm_runtime_put_autosuspend(dev);