diff --git a/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/src/linux_compat.c b/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/src/linux_compat.c
index e3fb0a0ce49..40eb64e9ee1 100644
--- a/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/src/linux_compat.c
+++ b/sys/compat/linuxkpi/common/src/linux_compat.c
@@ -1385,6 +1385,9 @@ linux_file_close(struct file *file, struct thread *td)
 
 	KASSERT(file_count(filp) == 0, ("File refcount(%d) is not zero", file_count(filp)));
 
+	if (td == NULL)
+		td = curthread;
+
 	filp->f_flags = file->f_flag;
 	linux_set_current(td);
 	linux_poll_wait_dequeue(filp);