diff --git a/lib/debugobjects.c b/lib/debugobjects.c
index 9d86e45086f54c06bd39f7e989593f4b3ccfa086..a78b7c6e042c9f64fb76bcb252236c456bf8a6a0 100644
--- a/lib/debugobjects.c
+++ b/lib/debugobjects.c
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ static void free_object(struct debug_obj *obj)
 	 * initialized:
 	 */
 	if (obj_pool_free > ODEBUG_POOL_SIZE && obj_cache)
-		sched = !work_pending(&debug_obj_work);
+		sched = keventd_up() && !work_pending(&debug_obj_work);
 	hlist_add_head(&obj->node, &obj_pool);
 	obj_pool_free++;
 	obj_pool_used--;