Index: head/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/include/linux/file.h
===================================================================
--- head/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/include/linux/file.h
+++ head/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/include/linux/file.h
@@ -101,10 +101,11 @@
 
 	if (fget_unlocked(curthread->td_proc->p_fd, fd,
 	    cap_rights_init(&rights), &file, NULL) != 0) {
-		file = NULL;
+		filp->_file = NULL;
+	} else {
+		filp->_file = file;
+		finit(file, filp->f_mode, DTYPE_DEV, filp, &linuxfileops);
 	}
-	filp->_file = file;
-	finit(file, filp->f_mode, DTYPE_DEV, filp, &linuxfileops);
 
 	/* drop the extra reference */
 	fput(filp);