diff --git a/fs/seq_file.c b/fs/seq_file.c
index 555f82155be8..5f163c6c821c 100644
--- a/fs/seq_file.c
+++ b/fs/seq_file.c
@@ -51,15 +51,16 @@ static void *seq_buf_alloc(unsigned long size)
  */
 int seq_open(struct file *file, const struct seq_operations *op)
 {
-	struct seq_file *p = file->private_data;
+	struct seq_file *p;
+
+	WARN_ON(file->private_data);
+
+	p = kzalloc(sizeof(*p), GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!p)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	file->private_data = p;
 
-	if (!p) {
-		p = kmalloc(sizeof(*p), GFP_KERNEL);
-		if (!p)
-			return -ENOMEM;
-		file->private_data = p;
-	}
-	memset(p, 0, sizeof(*p));
 	mutex_init(&p->lock);
 	p->op = op;
 #ifdef CONFIG_USER_NS