diff --git a/modules/thermal/thermal.c b/modules/thermal/thermal.c
index 6ba5845..7f4de3b 100644
--- a/modules/thermal/thermal.c
+++ b/modules/thermal/thermal.c
@@ -138,8 +138,9 @@
             fclose(file);
             fclose(cpu_file);
             return errno ? -errno : -EIO;
+        } else {
+            fclose(cpu_file);
         }
-        fclose(cpu_file);
 
         if (list != NULL) {
             list[size] = (cpu_usage_t) {