diff --git a/sys/dev/hwpmc/hwpmc_logging.c b/sys/dev/hwpmc/hwpmc_logging.c
index cb2e78b7f70f..d06db4d00650 100644
--- a/sys/dev/hwpmc/hwpmc_logging.c
+++ b/sys/dev/hwpmc/hwpmc_logging.c
@@ -683,6 +683,7 @@ pmclog_configure_log(struct pmc_mdep *md, struct pmc_owner *po, int logfd)
 		(void) fdrop(po->po_file, curthread);
 	po->po_file  = NULL;	/* clear file and error state */
 	po->po_error = 0;
+	po->po_flags &= ~PMC_PO_OWNS_LOGFILE;
 
 	return (error);
 }