diff --git a/kernel/locking/rtmutex.c b/kernel/locking/rtmutex.c
index 96c67ba69130..7a68ab2c5851 100644
--- a/kernel/locking/rtmutex.c
+++ b/kernel/locking/rtmutex.c
@@ -1076,6 +1076,9 @@ static void remove_waiter(struct rt_mutex *lock,
 
 	lockdep_assert_held(&lock->wait_lock);
 
+	if (!waiter_task) /* never enqueued */
+		return;
+
 	raw_spin_lock(&waiter_task->pi_lock);
 	rt_mutex_dequeue(lock, waiter);
 	waiter_task->pi_blocked_on = NULL;
@@ -1805,7 +1808,7 @@ int rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock(struct rt_mutex *lock,
 
 	raw_spin_lock_irq(&lock->wait_lock);
 	ret = __rt_mutex_start_proxy_lock(lock, waiter, task);
-	if (unlikely(ret))
+	if (unlikely(ret < 0))
 		remove_waiter(lock, waiter);
 	raw_spin_unlock_irq(&lock->wait_lock);