diff --git a/drivers/staging/iio/industrialio-core.c b/drivers/staging/iio/industrialio-core.c
index ee5e0640aa2..f5c111cb1db 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/iio/industrialio-core.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/iio/industrialio-core.c
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ static int iio_event_getfd(struct iio_dev *indio_dev)
 				indio_dev->event_interface, O_RDONLY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		mutex_lock(&indio_dev->event_interface->event_list_lock);
-		clear_bit(IIO_BUSY_BIT_POS, &ev_int->flags);
+		clear_bit(IIO_BUSY_BIT_POS, &indio_dev->event_interface->flags);
 		mutex_unlock(&indio_dev->event_interface->event_list_lock);
 	}
 	return fd;