diff --git a/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c b/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
index 0bf4fcd969c8..65cc612046d1 100644
--- a/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
+++ b/kernel/time/posix-cpu-timers.c
@@ -1600,8 +1600,8 @@ static int do_cpu_nanosleep(const clockid_t which_clock, int flags,
 		 */
 		expires = cpu_timer_getexpires(&timer.it.cpu);
 		error = posix_cpu_timer_set(&timer, 0, &zero_it, &it);
-		if (!error) {
-			/* Timer is now unarmed, deletion can not fail. */
+		if (error != TIMER_RETRY) {
+			/* Unarmed or target gone (-ESRCH), deletion can not fail. */
 			posix_cpu_timer_del(&timer);
 		} else {
 			while (error == TIMER_RETRY) {