diff --git a/kernel/lockdep.c b/kernel/lockdep.c
index 9af56723c096..d86fe8966265 100644
--- a/kernel/lockdep.c
+++ b/kernel/lockdep.c
@@ -3243,7 +3243,7 @@ int lock_is_held(struct lockdep_map *lock)
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	if (unlikely(current->lockdep_recursion))
-		return ret;
+		return 1; /* avoid false negative lockdep_assert_held() */
 
 	raw_local_irq_save(flags);
 	check_flags(flags);