diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
index 082611bd2fb3..1ede6d41ab8d 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
@@ -6428,7 +6428,8 @@ static int event_hist_trigger_func(struct event_command *cmd_ops,
 		goto out_unreg;
 
 	if (has_hist_vars(hist_data) || hist_data->n_var_refs) {
-		if (save_hist_vars(hist_data))
+		ret = save_hist_vars(hist_data);
+		if (ret)
 			goto out_unreg;
 	}