diff --git a/kernel/auditfilter.c b/kernel/auditfilter.c
index 9c8c23227c7f..5a756579f069 100644
--- a/kernel/auditfilter.c
+++ b/kernel/auditfilter.c
@@ -905,7 +905,7 @@ static void audit_update_watch(struct audit_parent *parent,
 
 		/* If the update involves invalidating rules, do the inode-based
 		 * filtering now, so we don't omit records. */
-		if (invalidating &&
+		if (invalidating && current->audit_context &&
 		    audit_filter_inodes(current, current->audit_context) == AUDIT_RECORD_CONTEXT)
 			audit_set_auditable(current->audit_context);