diff --git a/security/keys/keyring.c b/security/keys/keyring.c
index 8177010..238aa17 100644
--- a/security/keys/keyring.c
+++ b/security/keys/keyring.c
@@ -628,6 +628,10 @@
 	       ctx->index_key.type->name,
 	       ctx->index_key.description);
 
+#define STATE_CHECKS (KEYRING_SEARCH_NO_STATE_CHECK | KEYRING_SEARCH_DO_STATE_CHECK)
+	BUG_ON((ctx->flags & STATE_CHECKS) == 0 ||
+	       (ctx->flags & STATE_CHECKS) == STATE_CHECKS);
+
 	if (ctx->index_key.description)
 		ctx->index_key.desc_len = strlen(ctx->index_key.description);
 
@@ -637,7 +641,6 @@
 	if (ctx->match_data.lookup_type == KEYRING_SEARCH_LOOKUP_ITERATE ||
 	    keyring_compare_object(keyring, &ctx->index_key)) {
 		ctx->skipped_ret = 2;
-		ctx->flags |= KEYRING_SEARCH_DO_STATE_CHECK;
 		switch (ctx->iterator(keyring_key_to_ptr(keyring), ctx)) {
 		case 1:
 			goto found;
@@ -649,8 +652,6 @@
 	}
 
 	ctx->skipped_ret = 0;
-	if (ctx->flags & KEYRING_SEARCH_NO_STATE_CHECK)
-		ctx->flags &= ~KEYRING_SEARCH_DO_STATE_CHECK;
 
 	/* Start processing a new keyring */
 descend_to_keyring: