diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
index 3a994bd8520ca4..77a5a05544fce7 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_hwlat.c
@@ -520,6 +520,8 @@ static void hwlat_hotplug_workfn(struct work_struct *dummy)
 	if (!hwlat_busy || hwlat_data.thread_mode != MODE_PER_CPU)
 		goto out_unlock;
 
+	if (!cpu_online(cpu))
+		goto out_unlock;
 	if (!cpumask_test_cpu(cpu, tr->tracing_cpumask))
 		goto out_unlock;