diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tasks.h b/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
index 94b8ee84bc78..b5ad57d0a7fb 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
@@ -1041,9 +1041,11 @@ static void trc_wait_for_one_reader(struct task_struct *t,
 		if (smp_call_function_single(cpu, trc_read_check_handler, t, 0)) {
 			// Just in case there is some other reason for
 			// failure than the target CPU being offline.
+			WARN_ONCE(1, "%s():  smp_call_function_single() failed for CPU: %d\n",
+				  __func__, cpu);
 			rcu_tasks_trace.n_ipis_fails++;
 			per_cpu(trc_ipi_to_cpu, cpu) = false;
-			t->trc_ipi_to_cpu = cpu;
+			t->trc_ipi_to_cpu = -1;
 		}
 	}
 }