diff --git a/kernel/locking/lockdep.c b/kernel/locking/lockdep.c
index d467ba825dca..d23dcb47389e 100644
--- a/kernel/locking/lockdep.c
+++ b/kernel/locking/lockdep.c
@@ -1308,14 +1308,21 @@ static inline int __cq_enqueue(struct circular_queue *cq, struct lock_list *elem
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static inline int __cq_dequeue(struct circular_queue *cq, struct lock_list **elem)
+/*
+ * Dequeue an element from the circular_queue, return a lock_list if
+ * the queue is not empty, or NULL if otherwise.
+ */
+static inline struct lock_list * __cq_dequeue(struct circular_queue *cq)
 {
-	if (__cq_empty(cq))
-		return -1;
+	struct lock_list * lock;
 
-	*elem = cq->element[cq->front];
+	if (__cq_empty(cq))
+		return NULL;
+
+	lock = cq->element[cq->front];
 	cq->front = (cq->front + 1) & CQ_MASK;
-	return 0;
+
+	return lock;
 }
 
 static inline unsigned int  __cq_get_elem_count(struct circular_queue *cq)
@@ -1367,6 +1374,7 @@ static int __bfs(struct lock_list *source_entry,
 		 int forward)
 {
 	struct lock_list *entry;
+	struct lock_list *lock;
 	struct list_head *head;
 	struct circular_queue *cq = &lock_cq;
 	int ret = 1;
@@ -1388,10 +1396,7 @@ static int __bfs(struct lock_list *source_entry,
 	__cq_init(cq);
 	__cq_enqueue(cq, source_entry);
 
-	while (!__cq_empty(cq)) {
-		struct lock_list *lock;
-
-		__cq_dequeue(cq, &lock);
+	while ((lock = __cq_dequeue(cq))) {
 
 		if (!lock->class) {
 			ret = -2;